GOVERNMENT TRYING TO WALK BACK THE EIGHT-POINT

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 001617 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/21/2016 TAGS: PREL PGOV PTER KPKO NP SUBJECT: GOVERNMENT TRYING TO WALK BACK THE EIGHT-POINT AGREEMENT WITH THE MAOISTS REF: A. KATHMANDU 1576 ¶B. KATHMANDU 1597 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty, Reasons, 1.4 (b/d). Concerned About Agreement with Maoists -------------- ¶1. (C) Prime Minister Koirala's Foreign Policy Advisor, Dr. Suresh Chalise, told the Ambassador and Pol/Econ chief June 21 that the Government of Nepal (GON) now had to work on "damage control," following the June 16 eight-point agreement with the Maoists (ref A). Chalise agreed with the Ambassador who stressed that it was important that the Maoists not be included in government while they still had weapons. Chalise emphasized that, after Prime Minister Koirala returned from receiving medical treatment in Bangkok June 26 (his stay has been extended for a prostate procedure),the PM would tell the public that until the rebels' arms were destroyed completely there could not be free and fair elections to a constituent assembly. Chalise insisted that Prime Minister's Koirala's bottom line had not changed: before the Maoists were inducted into government, Maoist weapons must be "well-managed" -- meaning decommissioned and destroyed -- to ensure the rebels could not get them back. The Ambassador assured Chalise of our support for this position and reminded him that the Maoists were not strong enough to take over if the government retained its will to resist. Requesting UN Assistance -------------- ¶2. (C) Chalise said that the government "faced a major problem" inviting the UN to monitor arms. He explained that the eight-point agreement's language, "Requesting the United Nations to help manage the armies and weapons of both sides and to monitor it in order to ensure free and fair election for constituent assembly" was inadequate for two reasons. Chalise expressed concern that the provision equated the "People's Army" with the Nepali Army (NA). More importantly, "management" was not the proper term for what the government sought UN assistance for in relation to the Maoists. Chalise stated that while the UN could monitor the management of NA weapons, Maoist weapons needed to be decommissioned. ¶3. (C) According to Chalise, Deputy Prime Minister Amik Sherchan (leader of a party in the seven-party alliance that is closest to the Maoists),who is Acting Prime Minister, had been reluctant to sign a letter requesting assistance to that effect from the UN. Chalise said the PM upon his return would send a letter requesting UN assistance with arms management and decommissioning. The PM's advisor noted that he expected the Maoists would separately submit a letter requesting assistance with the management of arms. The Ambassador pointed out that it would be difficult for the UN to act until there was an agreement with the Maoists about the decommissioning of weapons. PM Received Bad Advice -------------- ¶4. (C) Chalise explained that, because of Koirala's age and ill health, the PM had not read each of the eight points of the agreement. Instead, he had asked his advisors Krishna Prasad Sitaula (the head of the government negotiating team and Home Affairs Minister) and Shekhar Koirala (a nephew of the PM) if the agreement was acceptable, and then signed it. Chalise suggested that the CPN-UML General Secretary MK Nepal had also insisted on including the provision regarding the dissolution of the Parliament. (Note: Others have told us that this was not the case and that MK Nepal had not advocated the dissolution of the Parliament. We assume Chalise was trying to avoid blaming his Nepali Congress colleagues for the disaster. End Note.) Comment -------------- ¶5. (C) The government recognizes it badly miscalculated negotiating the eight-point agreement and is now trying to walk it back. The GON's chief negotiator of the agreement, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, also backpedaled on June 20, and said publicly that there could not be an interim government while the Maoists still had weapons (septel). While the seven-party alliance cannot publicly disavow the agreement, it will publicly and privately stress that Maoists must give up their weapons before becoming part of government. We will continue to buck up the government and urge them to stay united in insisting that Maoists give up violence before entering government. MORIARTY