Three-point Agreement And Tricking Maoists

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

When the NC and CPN-UML leaders have refused to set the deadline for the Prime Minister to quit, it is quite clear to most of the political analysts that they are again for tricking the Maoists to extend the term of the CA and then returning back to the negotiating table keeping the most unethical Prime Minister firmly in his seat, as they know that the Maoists have exhausted all alternatives. However, the unscrupulous NC and CPN-UML leaders have hardly so far realized how damaging have been the current government to their political parties. When they realize it then it might be too late for them to control the damage.

On May 28, 2010, leaders of the UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have reached the three-point agreement and then extend the term of the CA for a year. One of the deals is the immediate resignation of the dishonorable Prime Minister Madhav Nepal, as he has been the obstacle to the peace process and the promulgation of a new constitution. He has said to the visiting Norwegian Minister on May 21, 2010 that he is not for the CA writing a new constitution. So, as long as Madhav Nepal remains as a Prime Minister, he will not let the CA promulgate a new constitution on one pretext or another. However, the NC and CPN-UML leaders have refused to set the deadline for the Prime Minister to resign paving the way for Madhav Nepal to stay on in the office thus indicating that these guys are also not for promulgating a new constitution.

On May 30, 2010, leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML have sat to put into practice what they have agreed on the three-point deal. There, they have started off interpreting the three-point deal differently particularly the point that says the resignation of the Prime Minister. The NC and CPN-UML leaders have interpreted that for them ‘the PM is ready to resign without delay’ stated in the three-point deal means the Prime Minister will leave the office once the leaders of the UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML reach consensus on issues concerning the peace process and the writing of a new constitution. However, the UCPN-Maoist leaders have understood that the Prime Minister will vacate the office immediately to pave the way for consensus on all matters and a national unity government. Other deals include the commitment to the consensus politics to complete the peace process, constitution writing, and extend the term of the CA for a year.

The NC and CPN-UML leaders have advised Prime Minister Madhav Nepal not to leave the office before completing the peace process and before reaching consensus on a national government. Minister for Home Affairs Bhim Rawal has said that the NC and CPN-UML leaders have suggested the Prime Minister not to quit the office before the enforcement of the first and the second points of the three-point deal reached on Friday night, May 28, 2010 between the NC and CPN-UML on one side and the UCPN-Maoist on another. The first two points are concerning the peace process and a new constitution. The third point is of the Prime Minister leaving the office.

On May 31, 2010, the UCPN-Maoist has served a warning notice to the Prime Minister stating the country would face a grave political crisis if he does not quit the office within 72 hours. UCPN-Maoist leaders have accused the NC and CPN-UML leaders of tricking them to extend the term of the CA. They have demanded the Prime Minister to leave the office by Tuesday, June 01, 2010 otherwise mistrust among the political leaders would prevail. The UCPN-Maoist leaders have said that the Prime Minister has verbally committed to leave the office within five days of the day extending the term of the CA. After a high-level meeting of the leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML, one of the vice-chairmen of UCPN-Maoist Narayan Kaji Shrestha ‘Preakash’ has said that the NC and CPN-UML leaders are trying to deceive the Maoists stating only after the enforcement of the first two points of the three-point deal, the Prime Minister would quit the office for forming a national consensus government whereas the deal is that the Prime Minster is to quit the office for the enforcement of the first two points of the three-point deal.

The UCPN-Maoist leaders at the meeting of the Standing Committee held at the party’s headquarters in Kathmandu have called on the leaders of the NC and CPN-UML leaders to enforce the three-point deal to build trust among the political parties for the consensus politics. Spokesperson for the UCPN-Maoist, Dinanath Sharma has said that the party has objected the interpretations of the three-point deal made by the NC and CPN-UM Leaders.

The NC leaders at the parliamentary party meeting held at Singha Durbar on Sunday, May 30, 2010 have decided to support the Maoist-led government only after resolving the contentious issues in a package. They have repeated their old demands for the Maoists setting the number of combatants to integrate into the national security forces, returning the seized properties and tearing down the paramilitary structure of the Young Communist League (YCL).

"The ruling parties are misinterpreting the three-point agreement, specially the issue about the Prime Minister’s resignation. We reached an oral understanding that the Prime Minister would resign within five days from the extension of the CA term. But now they want to make a package deal beforehand. This is distortion of the agreement," Maoist vice-chairman Narayan Kaji Shrestha said after the half hour meeting of the leaders of UCPN-Maoist, NC and CPN-UML according to the state-run newspaper ‘The Rising Nepal’ of June 01, 2010. "We are ready to discuss all the contentious issues concerning the peace process and constitution writing but the Prime Minister should resign to create an environment for that."

Spokesperson for NC, Arjun Nara Singh KC has told the reporters that the NC and CPN-UML want a package deal with the Maoists with a time table for carrying out integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA), dissolving paramilitary structure of the Maoists’ youth wing YCL and returning the property seized by the Maoists during the armed conflict.

"We concluded that the ruling parties are misinterpreting the three-point agreement reached on Friday night in course of the agreement to extend the Constituent Assembly (CA) term," Maoist spokesperson Dinanath Sharma said Monday after the standing committee meeting of the party according to ‘The Rising Nepal’ of June 1, 2010.  "There were NC leaders like Ram Chandra Poudel, Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-UML chief Jhalanath Khanal when we made the internal agreement on creating an environment of consensus politics by having the Prime Minister resigned within five days from that date: Friday." "The ruling parties will have to bear the cost of betrayal if they do not implement the agreement."

"The statements of ruling parties on the agreement have made us serious," Sharma said, referring to the arguments of some leaders of NC and CPN-UML that Prime Minister Madhav Nepal would quit the office only after the Maoists enforce the past agreements and an agreement on the integration and rehabilitation of Maoist armies.

Speaking at the Reporters Club on June 03, 2010, one of the Vice-chairmen of UCPN Maoist Mohan Vaidhya 'Kiran' has accused the NC and CPN-UML leaders of not keeping even the basics of political morality as they have failed in honoring the deal they have reached on May 28, 2010; so, it is no longer valid; the Prime Minister's resignation is no longer a concern for his party according to the news posted on the website of ‘The Himalayan Times’. Senior Maoist leader Vaidhya has said that the political parties need to reach a new understanding for concluding the peace process to a logical end and completing the new constitution after Prime Minister has failed to honor deadline set for him to quit the office. He has also said that the Maoists would work out a future course of action for dealing with the current political deadlock soon but would not resort to street protests.

"Nepali Congress and CPN-UML have gravely betrayed the essence and spirit of the three-point agreement reached on May 28, which was thought to be starting point of a new agreement for moving on the basis of consensus forward the peace and constitution processes," chairman of UCPN-Maoist Prachanda said in the statement after Standing Committee meeting of his party on Thursday, June 02, 2010 according to the state-run newspaper ‘The Rising Nepal’ of June 4, 2010. He has also said that the violation of the three-point deal has once again proved that the NC and UML leaders have been against consensus politics, peace process and constitution writing.

“Honoring the criminals of the People’s Movement of 2006 has made it more evident that the present government, which has set new record of murder, terror, abduction, impunity, price hike and corruption, is heading toward regressive direction," ‘The Rising Nepal’ quoted former Prime Minister Prachanda as stated in the statement.

"Therefore it is an inseparable part of our responsibility toward the people and the country to show non-cooperation with and protest the government, which is against consensus and change by holding up status quo and regression," Prachanda said in the statement.

"Our party appeals all the true patriots, republicans and change loving people to support the movement until national sovereignty, people’s supremacy, peace, constitution and a national unity government are ensured," the statement read.

Speaker Subhas Nemwang has ended the winter session of the legislature on Thursday, June 03, 2010 reading out the letter from the President to do so on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Maoist legislators have boycotted the session protesting the misinterpretation of the three-point deal reached on May 28, 2010.

Before boycotting the legislature session, Maoist legislator Dev Gurung has alleged the NC and CPN-UML leaders that they have misinterpreted the three-point deal reached on May 28. “How can we move together on peace and constitution within the extended time if the written deal is misinterpreted?” Gurung wondered according to the Himalayan News Service of June 4, 2010. He has argued that holding the peace process to logical conclusion following the deals made in the past is not only the task of the Maoists but also of the government. “I’ll like to remind you that the parties had reached a seven-point agreement on June 25, 2008, to settle all those issues,” Gurung said, and in the deal they had agreed to create a joint mechanism of all the parties coordinated by the district administration to monitor the process of returning the property and disbanding the YCL’s alleged paramilitary structure. He has accused the NC and CPN-UML leaders of repeatedly raising the issues of return of the property seized during the conflict, YCL’s paramilitary structure and integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist combatants as excuses for not cooperating on the consensus politics, the peace process and ultimately the writing of a new constitution.

He has said that a parliamentary committee headed by legislator Balkrishna Khand: the current Minister for Irrigation was also set up to monitor the property returned to the rightful owners. “NC and CPN-UML leaders are still pressing us to reach yet another agreement for the same,” Gurung said. He has warned the legislators that the peace process would be off the track and the new constitution would not be promulgated even in the extended one-year term of the CA if the NC and CPN-UML leaders refuse to form a national consensus government following the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007.

The NC and CPN-UML have believed that they have outwitted the Maoists and have tricked them to extend the term of the CA for a year without giving anything to the Maoists. However, the public has been watching the NC and CPN-UML leaders’ integrity. They have said that they would work with the Maoists on the consensus politics if the Maoists call off the indefinite shutdown enforced in the first week of May 2010 but they have not. So, the international community and other organizations concerned with the political stability of the country have called on the NC and CPN-UML leaders to replace the Madhav government with a national consensus government after the Maoists have called off the indefinite shutdown but they have simply ignored the call and have continued the notorious government. Then, they signed off the three-point deal with the leaders of the UCPN-Maoist and have extend the term of the CA for a year giving assurances to the Maoists of changing the Madhav government and working on the consensus politics but they did not keep their promise. All these things have been blessing in disguise to the UCPN-Maoist, as they have been able to garner the public sympathy.

The NC and CPN-UML guys have been attempting to portray the Maoists have been the bad guys and are still the bad guys and they don’t want to write a new constitution and complete the peace process. So, they want to go head-on confrontation with the Maoists and provoke them to a conflict again. However, the Maoists have been smarter to prove that they have abandoned the violence and have entered the politics of reconciliation. They are for promulgating a new constitution, and completing the peace process. This is what most of the political analysts believe in.

Returning the seized property and dismantling the paramilitary structure of the YCL is the tasks of the government if these things go against the rule of law. So, the government must enforce the rule of law for returning the seized property and dismantling the paramilitary structure of the YCL. The government not doing so means the NC and CPN-UML guys have using the return of seized property and dismantle of the paramilitary structure of the YCL as the tools of discrediting the Maoists and staying on in the power not promulgating a new constitution and not completing the peace process. This strategy of the NC and CPN-UML leaders have already done damage to the NC and CPN-UML but would do still more serious political damage to the NC and CPN-UML leaders at the same time empower the Maoists.

The UCPN-Maoist leaders have no alternative to put pressure on the NC and CPN-UML leaders to work on promulgating a new constitution as soon as possible. So, the Maoist guys need to stop spending their energy on toppling the current impotent government, as this strategy will weaken their political gains they have made after the Comprehensive Peace agreement they have reached with the government. If they go on insisting on finishing off the current government, Nepalis would not see them much different from the corrupt politicians of the NC and CPN-UML. So, the Maoist guys would be well off engaging in promulgating a new constitution by words and deeds and institutionalizing the republic setup. They would be the hope of Nepalis for the political stability and good governance if they could get a new constitution promulgated and holds elections thereafter.

Promulgation of a new constitution and a lasting peace would not be possible without the honesty of the political parties. Political leaders have demonstrated that they could go to any extent only to meet their interest. They don’t care for the damages done to their parties and to them personally politically by their dishonest behavior and their fighting for power.

June 5, 2010