After weeks of uncertainty in the middle of Nepal’s contention parliamentary elections, the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) is now set to last four more months. The country’s acting government and the opposition UCPN Maoists have reached an agreement to extend the UNMIN’s mandate, which was to end on September 15. (Watch a related story here.)
Nepal’s caretaker Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and Maoist Chairman Puspa Kamal Dahal reached the agreement late Monday at the prime minister’s residence. This was the first time Chairman Dahal was present in the prime minister’s residence since he resigned in May 2009.
Earlier, the government and Maoists had sent separate letters to the UN. The government had requested the UN to monitor Maoist’s militants only, whereas the Maoists had requested the UN to monitor both the armies.
According to the final agreement, the UNMIN will monitor both the Nepal army and Maoist militants. The government and Maoists have also agreed to integrate and rehabilitate the Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) combatants within four months starting in mid-September. Integration and rehabilitation of the Maoist militants is one of the major tasks that the political parties have failed to do in the last two years. The interim constitution states that integration and rehabilitation should be completed within 6 months of the initiation of the constitution assembly, which has been around now for over two years.
-Rajneesh Bhandari


