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The top U.N. envoy in Nepal warned Tuesday that the growing gulf of distrust between rival parties in the country has paralyzed the political process and could threaten long-term peace — an assessment disputed by Nepal's government.
In a briefing to the U.N. Security Council, Karin Landgren painted what she called "a discouraging picture of the state of Nepal's peace process, and of the failure of the political parties to invest in its revival."
Her presentation of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's latest report on Nepal came two days after the country's parliament failed to elect a new prime minister for a sixth time, leaving the Himalayan nation unable to forge a new constitution, approve the annual budget and push ahead with development.
Maoist rebels in Nepal began their armed revolt in 1996 seeking an end to the monarchy and to establish a communist state. The rebels gave up their insurgency in 2006 and joined a peace process under U.N. supervision and ultimately became part of the political mainstream. A communist-dominated Constituent Assembly voted in May 2008 to abolish the centuries-old monarchy and declared Nepal a republic and a secular state.
But the peace process has stalled and thousands of former rebels are still living in U.N.-run camps, awaiting a government decision on whether they should be integrated into the national army or returned to civilian life.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Communist Party of Nepal and Ram Chandra Poudel of the Nepali Congress party have been trying to form a government since June, when Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned as prime minister, but neither can muster enough votes in Parliament. In the interim, Nepal is serving in a caretaker role.
Landgren emphasized that "the true risks of this moment" are "the gulf of mistrust between the parties that has paralyzed the political process."
"The process can be brought back on track if the political leadership is ready to ... place this process at the front and centre of their political activity, recognizing that only through continued and persistent negotiation can it move forward," she said.
But Landgren stressed that "at a time when political moderation is in short supply, the parties have a great deal of work to do in order to make the case that they intend Nepal's peace to be permanent and irreversible."
She expressed serious concern regarding the government's pressure to end the U.N.'s monitoring of the Nepal Army and the Maoist army and their weapons, and an accompanying "flood of criticism" of the U.N. mission.
Nepal's U.N. Ambassador Gyan Chandra Acharya disputed the negative assessment and countered that the interim government doesn't want the current stalemate to delay the drafting of a new constitution. It is hoping for the formation of a new government soon so the peace process can be completed, including the integration and rehabilitation of former combatants, he said.
"We all look forward to the successful conclusion of the peace process at the earliest so that we would ensure further stability, peace and sustainable and rapid economic progress in the country," Acharya said.
In the meantime, he urged the Security Council to extend the mandate of the U.N. mission, which Landgren also reluctantly recommended, noting that the secretary-general wants the mission to complete its tasks and withdraw "in a manner that does not jeopardize the peace process."
