NEPAL: Peace process deadlock undermining development
KATHMANDU, 4 December 2009 (IRIN) - A deadlock in Nepal’s peace process is threatening development and stability in the country, say aid workers and analysts.
“The peace process is deadlocked and dangerously stagnant,” Rhoderick Chalmers, senior analyst and South Asia deputy project director at the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank, told IRIN.
The ICG urged major political parties to work together to avoid a possible return to conflict.
“What needs to be done is obvious, which is [a] resumption of the peace process. How you get there is the trickiest part of the question,” said Chalmers. “But I don’t see that happening in the near future. And that is why we should be concerned.”
A decade-long armed conflict between the Maoists and the state ended in 2006 with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) to start a peace process. However, the process has ground to a halt amid political wrangling between the Maoists and the 22-party ruling coalition government.
The process focuses on crucial issues such as the integration and rehabilitation of Maoist combatants, and the writing of a new constitution by the Constituent Assembly, the parliament, by May 2010.
Other critical issues include the return of land seized during the conflict and the integration of Nepal’s two standing armies, the National Army and the Maoist People’s Liberation Army.
“It is a worrying situation because the fundamentals that need to be addressed are not actually being discussed in a substantial fashion at all at the moment,” said Chalmers.
Political crisis
The Maoists won a landslide victory in Constituent Assembly elections in April 2008, and were in government before they quit in May this year over a row with other major parties.
Since then, they have disrupted the work of the coalition government, organizing frequent protests throughout the country, threatening to form an alternative government and delaying proceedings in parliament, where they still hold seats.
Both ruling politicians and the Maoists blame each other for the impasse, but still maintain they are committed to the peace process.
However, analysts say the deadlock is far from over, since political parties are devoting their energies to discussing power-sharing rather than the central issues of the peace process.
Karin Landgren, the UN Secretary-General’s representative in Nepal and head of the UN mission there (UNMIN), last month warned the Security Council that the peace process faced “protracted deadlock, with the added risk of confrontation”.
Aid affected
Humanitarian agencies say the political crisis is beginning to interfere with their work.
“If this deadlock continues, development work will be seriously hampered, and it is actually already happening,” Chij Kumar Shrestha, chair of the Association of International NGOs (AIN), grouping more than 80 INGOs in Nepal, told IRIN.
Local government bodies such as the Village Development Committees (VDCs) and District Development Committees (DDCs) – whose permission and participation is needed by NGOs in order to work - are almost non-functional, he said.
NGOs are also concerned that this will eventually affect funding for their work if donors do not see results, he said.
“Our concern is this deadlock will not allow us to deliver what we had promised to the donor agencies,” said Shrestha, also country director of the US-based INGO, World Education.
Blockades
Meanwhile, protests and blockades by the Maoists are also impeding aid efforts.
“The challenges are growing for us, especially in our mobility, and it is not easy coordinating with local officials from VDCs to get things done,” said Dinanath Bhandari, an officer with Practical Action Nepal.
Aid workers also expressed concerns that the growing instability meant Nepal was lagging behind its South Asian neighbours in its development.
“The leaders should be clear what they intend to do with the power they have been given by the people’s mandate, but they seem so focused on power-grabbing, rather than on working towards the country’s stability,” Rohit Nepali, executive director of South Asia Partnership International, told IRIN.
After the Constituent Assembly was formed in 2008, people expected a new constitution would be created to help pave the way for stable government and a focus on development, he said.
“But that seems very unlikely. We are not young any more and I don’t think we will see the kind of stability that we aspired to after all these years of political turmoil,” said Nepali.
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Copyright © IRIN 2009
This material comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States.
IRIN is a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
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