DEUBA FRUSTRATED BY MAOISTS IN NEPAL

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001341

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/13/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM KDEM NP
SUBJECT: DEUBA FRUSTRATED BY MAOISTS IN NEPAL


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

Summary
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1. (C) Meeting the Ambassador July 12, Sher Bahadur Deuba,
President of the Nepali Congress-Democratic (NC-D) party,
expressed frustration with the Maoists and the Young
Communist League (YCL),stressing that they consistently
ignored agreements made with the government. Deuba confirmed
that unification of the NC-D with the Nepali Congress party
(NC) was well underway. He did not expect the monarchy to
last past the Constituent Assembly election and agreed it was
time to focus on what type of political system Nepal wanted.
The Ambassador encouraged Deuba to keep the mainstream
parties united in working toward a free and fair Constituent
Assembly election.

Frustration with Maoists/YCL
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2. (C) In a meeting with the Ambassador on July 12, Sher
Bahadur Deuba, President of the Nepali Congress-Democratic
(NC-D) party, expressed frustration with the Maoists and
Young Communist League (YCL). He noted that in the
agreements the Maoists signed with the government, with the
UN as witness, only the Nepali police were entitled to
enforce the law. However, the YCL claimed they were
enforcing the law when they engaged in adbuctions and
confiscations. Deuba said Ian Martin (Chief of the United
Nations Mission to Nepal-UNMIN) should be speaking out
against these breaches of the agreements. The Ambassador
pointed out that he had raised this issue repeatedly with
Lena Sundh, former UN Representative of the High Commission
for Human Rights; OHCHR had finally come out with a tough
report on YCL actions on June 22, the day before Sundh's
final departure from Kathmandu. UNMIN, as well as all other
political parties, should be pointing out that the Maoists
have not fully bought into the peace process, the Ambassador
emphasized. Deuba's wife, Arzu, who joined the meeting
midway through, found the lack of support for the police from
the Home Ministry to be the biggest hindrance in dealing with
the YCL. Deuba remarked that the Maoists should follow the
agreements they had signed. If they had problems with
government policies, they should deal with them within
government structures. The Ambassador and Deuba agreed that
if the Seven-Party Alliance and the international community
stayed unified, pressure could be brought on the Maoists to
improve their behavior. The Ambassador acknowledged that to
date, though, there have been no signs the Maoists were
acting in good faith.

Party Unification Coming
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3. (C) The Ambassador asked Deuba when the Nepali Congress
(NC) and Nepali Congress-Democratic (NC-D) would unify.
Deuba replied that 75 per cent of the issues had already been
resolved and that the two parties would unify, but did not
mention a date. After stating from his side everything was
ready to proceed, he questioned whether unification was
necessary after all. The Ambassador replied that unification
was indeed necessary to strengthen and unify the Seven-Party
Alliance.

Monarchy is a Diversion
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4. (C) While Deuba would be willing to entertain the idea of
Gyanendra's grandson becoming king, he expected that the day
after the CA election the monarchy would be abolished. He
mentioned that some were concerned about the country being
able to maintain unity if there is no monarch. Arzu Deuba
then noted that no one was talking about what type of
political system Nepal should institute. The Ambassador
pointed out that if all parties agree that monarchy was at an
end, then that issue could be neutralized, and the debate
about what type of political system people wanted could

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begin. Deuba fully expected the Maoists to try to dictate
answers; his wife thought the Maoists would return to armed
struggle if they were not successful in getting their answers
accepted.

Uncertain Election
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5. (SBU) Discussing the difficulties surrounding the
Constituent Assembly election, the Ambassador commented that
if the mainstream parties do not stay united and push for
free and fair elections a remilitarization of political
issues was probable. Deuba's wife pointed out that few
Nepalis believed the election would take place as scheduled.
The Ambassador responded that such views provided an "out"
for the Maoists and reduced pressure on them to uphold their
agreements with the government and to participate in a free
and fair election.

Comment
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6. (C) Deuba's frustration with the Maoists and YCL was
clearly evident. The need for a strong, competitive, and
electable democratic party to counter the Maoists will
perhaps help him overcome his remaining doubts about unifying
his party with the NC. Deuba seemed a bit wistful about the
end of the monarchy, but recognized that few Nepalis support
the institution anymore.
MORIARTY