Preparations for peace talks under way

Nepal’s new government and the Maoists - who have been waging an armed rebellion against the state for the past decade - are preparing to hold peace talks soon, senior government officials said on Monday in the capital, Kathmandu. “The country has already moved in a positive direction and we know that the peace talks this time will not fail,” said Chitralekha Yadav, deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, referring to the failures of the two rounds of talks in 2001 and 2003 when the government refused the main demands of the Maoists for an interim government and constituent assembly. “These two demands are now fully accepted by the new government as well as the seven [major political] parties. So, there is no room for failure,” said Kasinath Adhikari, senior leader of the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party. Some of the key Maoist leaders are reportedly already in the capital. Among them is Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a Maoist spokesman and main coordinator for talks from the Maoist side, who arrived from India where the top rebel leaders have been taking refuge. The top Maoist leader Prachanda is expected to head the insurgents’ negotiating team. The government will announce its own peace talk team soon, said Home Minister Krishna Sitaula, who is coordinating the talks from the government’s side. The date for the talks will be declared once the government names its team of negotiators, said Deputy Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli. The newly expanded cabinet, represented by four out of seven main political parties, including the Nepali Congress (NC), Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML), United Leftist Front (ULF) and Nepali Congress (Democratic), is set to decide on that. The remaining three, the Nepal Sadbhawana Party-Anandidevi (NSP), the People’s Front Nepal (PFN) and the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP), have still not decided whether to join the government or not. Also on Monday, 11 ministers were added to the cabinet, which had only six members when it was formed on 3 May, following the end of the direct rule of the Nepalese monarch King Gyanendra who handed back power following three-week long nationwide protests in April. Meanwhile, the Maoists have been pushing the new government to create an appropriate environment for talks. Maoist spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara said that the government must immediately release all Maoist workers from the prisons where they have been languishing for the past several years. At the same time, the government and civil society groups have been demanding that the Maoists should stop extortion in areas under their control before the talks take place. There are daily reports in the local newspapers, including the largest selling paper, Kantipur, about the increasing incidents of Maoists forcing civilians and traders to pay them ‘donations’ in the name of Maoist tax for the welfare of the rebel military People’s Liberation Army (PLA). However, the key political parties believe that these issues can be sorted out soon without affecting the peace talks. “Both the Maoists and the parties have a strong commitment towards the peace talks and small issues will not jeopardise them in any way,” explained Adhikari from UML.