Nepal’s Army Chief scandal has affected Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda’s schedule to visit People’s Republic of China from 24 April to 3 May.
Maoist sources are reported to have warned Prime Minister Prachanda to stay home and remain psychologically prepared to provide emergency leadership if the current Chief of the Nepal Army Rukmangad Katuwal dares to organize a military coup with the support of CIA, RAW and some domestic political parties, viz., the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML). These parties have publicly instigated the Nepal Army to disobey the current coalition government headed by former rebels, the Unified Communist Party of Nepal Maoist (UCPNM), as it has been renamed recently.
Earlier, the Maoist-led government had asked Army Chief Rukmangad Katuwal for an explanation letter on why he defied government and the Comprehensive Peace Treaty. The government also sought consensus for sacking the Chief, who was already blacklisted by the Rayamajhi Commission that revealed how the Chief violated human rights during former King Gyanendra’s direct rule.
After the government questioned the Army Chief, former Prime Minister and Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala and his party leaders, and UML politburo as well as other central leaders objected to the government’s step of questioning the Army Chief. They even said that the government, though elected, did not have any right to do so. Instead, they wanted the government to remain in the monarchial mode though the elected Constituent Assembly has already abolished monarchy.
US Ambassador to Nepal Nancy J. Powell and Indian Ambassador to Nepal Rakesh Sood have hundreds of times broken their diplomatic etiquette. They have done a similar thing on this Army scandal. They have pressurized the Nepali Congress and the UML to oppose the government’s decision on the Army Chief.
The general public have been questioning the democratic character of Nepal’s ‘democratic’ parties. They have been found to have felt that some parties are trying to put the Army Chief above the government and the constitution.
The Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between Maoist rebels and the Seven Party Alliance (SPA)—now this alliance does not exist—has envisioned that Maoists’ People’s Liberation Army (PLA), who fought to establish full-fledged democracy and republic under the leadership of the Maoist party, needed to be professionalized, and the state army needed to be democratized because it long worked for feudal monarchs.
The accord also specifies that Maoist PLA fighters need to be integrated into national security forces, rehabilitated and managed.
However, the NC and the UML have overtly and covertly stood against the army integration issue. Experts consider this army integration issue very complicated. It may, they think, even jeopardize the very peace process.
The country’s major political gamblers need to be sensitive to their conflict management responsibilities.
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