Kathmandu
The peace process in Nepal has lost its momentum, said an EU
delegation Thursday as it wound up its four-day visit to assess the
situation and urge the Girija Prasad Koirala government to hold the
twice-postponed elections at the earliest.
Leader of the delegation Pedro Moitinho de Almeida, special
representative of the EU presidency for Political Dialogues with
Third Countries, said there was a need to rebuild confidence in the
process and have a clear commitment to the elections.
"Repeated postponement of the elections erodes the credibility and
affects the process of democratic transformation and legitimisation
in Nepal," the envoy said.
"Early elections and a mandate from the people are an essential
component of the peace process."
The visit comes at a time Nepal's Maoist guerrillas and the ruling
parties have been locked in a battle in parliament for over two
months now with neither side ready to yield.
The Maoists, who walked out of the government in September and
created a crisis by opposing the constituent assembly elections
scheduled for Nov 22, are demanding that King Gyanendra be sacked
before the elections and a fully proportional electoral system be
used.
The demands go against the rebels' commitment to a peace accord
where they agreed to the polls and the elected assembly deciding the
fate of the king, who angered the nation by trying to rule the
country with the support of the army.
According de Almeida, the abolition of a system before the elections
would not happen in any of the EU countries. However, if Nepal chose
to do it, the EU wouldn't cut ties with it.
He also said that in its first meeting with the Maoists, the troika
had been told by the rebels that they are committed to peaceful
elections.
However, for the polls to be credible, the EU says Nepal has to put
some key building blocks in place.
Security is a primary concern.
"Lawlessness, notably in the Terai, is increasing," de Almeida said.
"People live in fear and are prevented from going about their daily
lives."
To control violence, he stressed that impunity, whether by the state
or others, would have to be tackled.
The EU is also calling for addressing the plight of the Maoist army
that has been confined to primitive cantonments for almost a year
now.
In addition, it says the Koirala government needs to implement the
pacts it made with marginalized groups and give priority to better
delivery of basic services.
Just before the EU, China and former American president Jimmy Carter
urged the government to hold elections at the earliest. Carter, who
has proposed a compromise formula to end the deadlock, has also
asked for restoring law and order, especially in the Terai.
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