Nepal's peace process:In limbo

Neither very peaceful, nor in process: A MONTH after the abduction of a journalist, Birendra Sah, in the district of Bara in southern Nepal, three Maoist parliamentarians this week announced the findings of their own inquiry into the affair. They concluded that two local Maoist officials had shot Mr Sah dead, on the orders of their local superior but outside party policy. This followed weeks of obfuscation from the Maoist leadership and the government and came after Mr Sah's weeping wife appeared in public in Kathmandu.

Although last year's peace agreement officially ended the Maoist insurrection, abductions, threats and violence have continued. The Terai, the southern plain, is now the most violent part of Nepal. Perpetrators include the Maoists, a string of new militant and criminal groups, and the army and police. There are now more than 20 Terai factions, mostly claiming to espouse the rights of the marginalised southern peoples known as Madhesis. The daily litany of violence recalls the war years. In recent days a youth was burnt to death, a local politician had his throat slit and a bomb in the town of Birgunj killed one person.

The backdrop to this violence is renewed political stalemate. In October elections to a constituent assembly, planned for this month, were postponed indefinitely. The Maoists had earlier walked out of the interim cabinet. They had a long series of new demands, notably a system of proportional representation for the elections, and the immediate abolition of the monarchy.

The political limbo feeds the violence. It is rooted in the minorities' sense of continued discrimination; the politicians' obsession with short-term political gain; and the Maoists' failure so far to accept peaceful, competitive politics. As the Maoists struggle to overcome internal divisions between hardliners and pragmatists, their Young Communist League has revived their old system of parallel government and rough justice.

Many other questions remain unresolved. The United Nations mission in Nepal, UNMIN, is concerned about the prolonged confinement of former Maoist fighters in 28 camps. This week UNMIN's head, Ian Martin, offered to discuss a long-term solution for them and the Nepal Army, which under the peace accord is meant to become more inclusive. The army's hardliners, however, resent any hint of UN involvement.

Source:

The Economist print edition