NEPAL: PRIME MINISTER RESOLUTE THAT ELECTION BE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 001093

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/02/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM PTER KDEM NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: PRIME MINISTER RESOLUTE THAT ELECTION BE
HELD IN NOVEMBER


Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d)

Summary
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1. (C) On June 1, Prime Minister G.P. Koirala explained to
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor Barry Lowenkron and the Ambassador that the Eight-Party
Alliance had agreed the day before to hold the Constituent
Assembly election in November. All of the parties had signed
the agreement, although all but three had included notes of
dissent. The Prime Minister was resolute that no party, not
even the Maoists, would be allowed to prevent an
internationally credible election from going forward. He
spoke with disdain of the Maoist Young Communist League as
the "Youth Criminal League." Koirala insisted that the
election process would be inclusive. He rued the challenges
of maintaining unity within such a disparate governing
coalition and indicated he would step down as Prime Minister
after the election. In response to urging from Assistant
Secretary Lowenkron, he said that he hoped to push through

SIPDIS
apolitical commissioners for the National Human Rights
Commission soon.

Agreement on Election in November
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2. (C) Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala confirmed to
Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and
Labor Barry Lowenkron and the Ambassador June 1 that the
governing Eight-Party Alliance had reached agreement the day
before on a new Constituent Assembly election date. The
election would be held by the middle of December with the
Prime Minister authorized to determine the exact date after
consulting with the Election Commission. Assistant Secretary
Lowenkron and the Ambassador commended PM Koirala on this
achievement. The Prime Minister said that five of the
parties had raised objections in the form of notes of dissent
but had ultimately signed on the dotted line. Koirala
remarked that he had wanted to get these opposing views out
on the table so he would know which parties supported him.
In the end, his own Nepali Congress (Koirala is President),
the Nepali Congress - Democratic and the United Left Front
had been the only parties that had not qualified their
agreement.

Prime Minister Resolute
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3. (C) The Prime Minister stated that the next step was for
the Interim Parliament, which was now operational again, to
pass the necessary electoral legislation. Afterwards, the
election timetable would be finalized. PM Koirala stressed
that he had the final responsibility to make sure that the
election took place. He had told the other members of the
Alliance the day before that, even if they did not cooperate
with him, he was determined to hold the election, and an
internationally credible one. The Prime Minister's Foreign
Policy Adviser, Dr. Suresh Chalise, added that the PM was
prepared to take "stern action," if necessary. "So, no party
can hold the process hostage?" Assistant Secretary Lowenkron
asked. Koirala replied that that was exactly what he meant.

Maoist "Youth Criminal League"
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4. (C) The Assistant Secretary spoke of the hope that many
Nepalis had felt in November 2006 when the peace agreements
were signed, that the Maoists would enter the democratic
mainstream. Six months later, there was great disappointment
about ongoing Maoist abuses, particularly by the Youth
Communist League (YCL). Koirala agreed, noting, with a voice
full of disdain, that the YCL had a new nickname. People
were calling it the "Youth Criminal League." He had told the
Maoists bluntly that these abuses had to stop.

Importance of Constituent Assembly
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5. (C) PM Koirala emphasized that the Constituent Assembly
was crucial. It would decide everything. Constitutionally
speaking, he admitted, the current Interim Parliament was not
legal. (Note: A majority of the members of the Interim
Parliament were formerly Members of the old House of
Representatives. They were elected in 1999, and their terms
expired in 2004. The other MPs, including all the Maoist
MPs, were appointed, not elected. End note.) The Prime
Minister complained that there was a lack of understanding of
the importance of the Constituent Assembly, even among civil
society.

Ready for Inclusive Approach
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6. (C) Assistant Secretary Lowenkron pointed out that some
Nepalis were concerned they would not be included in the
political process. Koirala quickly replied that the
Government of Nepal was ready to adopt an inclusive approach.
This meant that Madhesi, indigenous (janajati),Dalit and
other disadvantaged groups' concerns would be taken into
account. The Constituent Assembly itself would help to
ensure their inclusion. These groups needed to realize the
GON's intentions were positive.

Challenge to Maintain Unity In Diverse Cabinet
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7. (C) The Prime Minister described the difficulties of
keeping his diverse governing coalition together. He
indicated that it took great patience. At times, he
conceded, he was disgusted by what members of his cabinet
were doing or saying, but he kept quiet for the sake of
unity. The United Nations and the rest of the international
community kept telling him to maintain the unity of the
Eight-Party Alliance, but they did not have to deal with what
he faced. Many different ideologies were represented in the
cabinet. He wanted to be strong and outspoken, he said, like
Ambassador Moriarty, but was forced to "drink humiliation"
instead. Before people had accused him of being a dictator.
Now they accused him of being the weakest Prime Minister
ever. He endured it all to maintain unity in the coalition
so the election could take place.

After Koirala?
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8. (C) PM Koirala said everything (and every one) had its
useful life. His extended up to the Constituent Assembly
election. After that, "I will be useless." Then, he planned
to step down as Prime Minister. New faces would appear. He
added that he did not want to raise the issue of his
successor now because it would disturb the party. That was
why he was not talking about the issue publicly. The Nepali
Congress would decide who would replace him.

Assistance for Nepal
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9. (C) The Prime Minister stated that Nepal was highly
obliged for the international community's assistance.
Lowenkron remarked that the U.S. Congress had recently set
aside USD 5 million for Nepal. The Ambassador reported that
there was another USD 3 million that the U.S. had recently
found for the Nepal Police, as the Ambassador had told Home
Minister Sitaula the day before. Dr. Chalise asked about the
possibility of poverty alleviation projects. He and the PM
voiced concern about the lack of job opportunities for young
people. Young people without work were more inclined to join
groups such as the YCL. In response, the Ambassador noted
the U.S. Government had a project under consideration to
provide security, good governance, and employment in selected
pilot districts. Of course, what mattered even more was the
business climate. Businesses and investors needed security
and political stability. Nepal had tremendous resources,
such as hydropower, and bright business people -- if it could
take advantage of them.

Attack on Ambassador in Jhapa

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10. (C) The Prime Minister expressed his sorrow about the
recent attack on the Ambassador in Jhapa by the YCL. He
indicated that he had told the Home Minister afterwards that
the police should provide security to Ambassadors when they
traveled. Areas should be secured so no such incidents
happened again. The Ambassador explained that there had been
a police car ahead of him. The problem was that what had
started as a demonstration with 30-40 YCL cadre chanting
anti-U.S. slogans devolved into throwing stones. PM Koirala
assured the Ambassador the incident would not be repeated and
claimed that protection for all Ambassadors would be
upgraded. The Ambassador stressed that the Maoists had lied
when they had said they had no intention of attacking
Americans. Assistant Secretary Lowenkron pointed out that
the attack had been raised at the highest level of the State
Department.

National Human Rights Commission
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11. (C) The Assistant Secretary urged the Prime Minister to
appoint commissioners to the National Human Rights Commission
(which has been without any commissioners for almost a year).
Koirala concurred that the NHRC was important but said the
problem was his coalition partners. They all wanted to put
their own people on the Commission. The PM said he had asked
the former Chief Justice Upadyaya to head the Commission and
to suggest the names of additional nonpartisan candidates.
Lowenkron stressed that a politicized human rights commission
was worse than no commission at all. Koirala shared that view
completely: the Commission needed to be an independent body
and one, Dr. Chalise mentioned, that was inclusive. The
Prime Minister promised commissioners would be appointed and
approved very soon.

Comment
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12. (C) Prime Minister Koirala seems determined to move
firmly toward a Constituent Assembly election in November.
He recognizes it will not be easy, but the May 31 agreement
on the new date as well as several other matters, including
resumption of the Interim Parliament and review of the
boundaries of some of the electoral constituencies in the
Terai, appears to have given him a well-deserved boost. As
the meeting was ending, Koirala asked the Assistant Secretary
if he would stress the need for the parties to work together
under the PM's leadership to achieve the goal of an election
in November and it was a request the Assistant Secretary was
happy to fulfill. We hope the preparations for the election
will now be able to accelerate. There is no time to waste.


13. (U) Assistant Secretary Lowenkron cleared this message.
MORIARTY