NEPAL: AMBASSADOR URGES PROGRESS IN PEACE PROCESS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 KATHMANDU 000601

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/08/2019
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM EAID MARR UNSC NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: AMBASSADOR URGES PROGRESS IN PEACE PROCESS
IN FAREWELL CALLS

REF: A. KATHMANDU 570

B. KATHMANDU 600

Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Reasons 1.4 (b/d)

Summary
--------------


1. (C) In a series of farewell calls since June 22 with
senior Nepali officials and politicians, the Ambassador urged
progress on the peace process, in the drafting of the
constitution and in the political process generally. Nepali
officials, including the Foreign, Defense, Home, Finance, and
Peace Ministers, the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly and
the Chief of Army Staff assured her of their commitment to
move ahead. The heads of the three largest parties --
Maoists, Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal -
United Marxist Leninist (UML) -- made the same commitments.
On July 6, the Maoists agreed to end their two-month
obstruction of the Parliament, but many issues remain
unresolved.

Peace Process
--------------


2. (C) The Ambassador took advantage of farewell calls since
June 22 with Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala (Ref A),Defense
Minister Bidhya Bandari, Home Minister Bhim Rawal, Peace and
Reconstruction Minister Rakam Chemjong and Finance Minister
Surendra Pandey to urge progress in the peace process. She
stressed to the Ministers, as well as to Constituent Assembly
(CA) Chairman Subash Nemwang, Chief of Army Staff (COAS)
Rookmangud Katawal, and the heads of the three largest
parties that a way needed to be found to get the process
moving forward again. The Ambassador strongly suggested that
reinstating the Special Committee on Supervision,
Rehabilitation and Integration of Maoist Combatants would be
a good place to start. She urged Peace Minister Chemjong to
pick up quickly where his predecessor had left off in
developing plans for the discharge and rehabilitation of
minors and disqualified from Maoist cantonments. The
Ambassador also challenged Maoist Chairman Pushpa Dahal to
prove his commitment to the peace process by discharging the
minors and disqualified.

UNMIN and OHCHR
--------------


3. (C) The senior officials acknowledged the need to re-start
the peace process, which they readily conceded was "stuck."
Foreign Minister Koirala noted that on June 24 the cabinet
had approved a request for a six-month extension of the
United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN),when its mandate
expires on July 23. The cabinet had also approved a
nine-month extension for the Office of the High Commissioner
for Human Rights -- until June 2010. The Ambassador voiced
her gratitude for these decisions but pointed out that the UN
Security Council would likely criticize Nepal because so
little had been accomplished over the past six months.
Defense Minister Bhandari affirmed the importance of dealing
with the Maoist combatants and suggested that Prime Minister
Madhav Kumar Nepal would likely chair the Special Committee.
Home Minister Rawal promised he would be actively involved in
the peace process, as in the past. Peace Minister Chemjong
said that, although the Special Committee was being
restructured, its Technical Committee continued to operate
and would shortly visit several cantonments. He described
his plan to establish local peace committees in every village
development committee, not just at the district level, and
stated that his ministry would begin consultations on a
disappearances bill soon. COAS Katawal told the Ambassador
he would not stand in the way of a peace deal, but that the
Nepal Army's job was to be prepared for the worst, and he was
still convinced that the Maoists posed the biggest threat to
the country's peace and democracy.

High-Level Mechanism

KATHMANDU 00000601 002 OF 003


--------------


4. (C) Former Prime Minister Dahal admitted that his party's
recent actions had caused other parties and the international
community to call the Maoists' commitment to the peace
process and multiparty democracy into question. He said that
the dialogue was continuing among the parties. Dahal
expressed interest in leading the Special Committee but
indicated his party would be flexible on that issue. Nepali
Congress President and former Prime Minister G.P. Koirala
agreed with the Ambassador about the importance of reviving
the Special and Technical Committees. Koirala insisted that
the COAS should retire, as scheduled, in September. He
stated that he hoped to establish a high-level political
committee on which he and Dahal and other senior leaders
would sit that could be used to resolve issues. Dahal told
the Ambassador in their meeting that he was not opposed to
the idea -- as long as the committee did not attempt to
instruct the cabinet. Communist Party of Nepal - United
Marxist Leninist (UML) Chairman Jhalanath Khanal was also
supportive of a high-level committee. Khanal seconded the
Ambassador's observation that reaching a deal on next steps
had become more difficult because the leaders were no longer
able as easily to swing their parties behind an agreement.

Drafting of Constitution
--------------


5. (C) The Ambassador warned the ministers and senior
politicians that the continuing political stalemate
threatened to prevent the CA from drafting the constitution
on time. Only eleven months remained to complete the task.
The U.S. Government was providing assistance to CA Members,
to the parties and to the Secretariat, including the
multi-donor-funded Center for Constitutional Dialogue, and to
the political parties. If there was more help needed, the
U.S. would try to provide it. CA Chairman Subash Nemwang
replied that, from his perspective, Nepal had what it needed.
He pointed out that, in spite of the Maoist obstruction of
the CA as parliament, the Maoists were not attempting to
prevent the Assembly from fulfilling its
constitution-drafting role. In fact, three of the CA's 10
thematic committees had already presented their concept
papers to the CA. Nemwang conceded, however, that the
failure of the Prime Minister to name a replacement for
himself to chair the main Constitutional Committee had
prevented that key committee from operating properly. The
Chairman noted that the major parties had been unable so far
to agree on a single candidate. (Comment: Nemwang gave no
indication that he was prepared to force the issue by calling
a committee vote. End Comment.)

Consensus Sought
--------------


6. (C) In her meetings, the Ambassador urged the parties to
work together as well so that the benefits of governance
would reach the Nepali people. Home Minister Rawal said he
was in the process of finalizing an operational plan to
address law and order issues in Nepal. Health Minister Uma
Kant Chaudhary voiced his appreciation for U.S. long-term
support to Nepal's health sector. Maoist Chairman Dahal
stated that his party's weeklong politburo meeting had
concluded that the Maoists should lead a national government,
but he did not disclose how the Maoists intended to make that
happen. NC President Koirala said he was trying to convince
the Maoists to join the government. He added that he
intended to step down as head of the NC at the party's
general convention, which he hoped would take place by
November. UML Chairman Khanal likewise agreed on the
importance of bringing the Maoists on board. CA Chairman
Nemwang (UML) opined that the Maoists would not join the
government as long as Katawal was Army chief.

Budget Deadline
--------------


KATHMANDU 00000601 003 OF 003



7. (C) Former PM Dahal acknowledged to the Ambassador that
the Maoists needed to end their obstruction of the Parliament
so it could approve the budget before the fiscal year ended
on July 15. He and others said that the parties were looking
at various ways to address Maoist concerns about "civilian
supremacy," including a possible speech by PM Nepal to the
Assembly. UML Chairman Khanal pointed out the difficulty of
finding a compromise that was acceptable to the Maoists and
the NC. Nemwang said he was doing his best to broker a
solution. On June 26, Finance Minister Pandey told the
Ambassador he planned to present the budget on July 9-11. He
made no mention of any major changes from the previous year
budget. (Note: In press statements prior to July 6, the
Maoist chairman agreed only to suspend the obstruction of the
Assembly long enough for a temporary budget to be passed to
pay government salaries and fund basic government programs.)

Comment
--------------


8. (C) As reported Ref B, on July 6, with the mid-July budget
deadline looming, the Maoists reached agreement with the NC
and the UML to end their two-month obstruction of the
Parliament and allow the full budget to be presented. The
deal, however, was far from comprehensive and concrete action
on the issues discussed above remains pending.
POWELL