Press Conference of Ian Martin, Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General	more information

Ian Martin on the present situation

Nepal's Seven-Party Alliance should be safeguarded and the commitment by its parties to holding elections for the Constituent Assembly reaffirmed, said Ian Martin, Special Representative of the Secretary-General to Nepal, at a press briefing this afternoon at United Nations Headquarters.

Such a reaffirmation was necessary to reassure the people of Nepal, and the international community that was supporting the peace process there, that the process remained on track, he said. This would require not just setting what would be a third date for the Constituent Assembly elections, but the commitment to a realistic road map, including creating appropriate public security conditions.

"I think the people of Nepal are worried - dismayed - by the disagreements they see at the moment among political parties," Mr. Martin said. "They expect their leaders to deliver on their promise to hold Constituent Assembly elections on the way to a newly inclusive Nepal and to durable peace."

The Maoists had demanded the immediate declaration of a republic from the current interim legislature rather than from a future elected Constituent Assembly, and that the electoral system for the Constituent Assembly elections should be fully proportional, rather than the mixed system to which they'd previously agreed, he said. These two demands were currently before the interim legislature, which was currently adjourned due to a national holiday and would reconvene on 29 October.

Mr. Martin said the current crisis was not limited to these two demands and the inability to reach an agreement on them, however, but stemmed from "growing mistrust" among the parties to the peace agreement. That mistrust was related to failures on both sides to implement commitments and agreements that had been made within the peace process. There had also been a failure to implement agreements that the Government had reached with representatives of marginalized communities in Nepal. These groups had increasingly pressed their claims for inclusion in the Constituent Assembly process and State structures, he added.

He stressed that one failure of particular relevance to the United Nations Mission in Nepal (UNMIN) related to the future of the Maoist combatants who were confined to cantonment sites and whom UNMIN was mandated to monitor. Although the cantonment of Maoist combatants and restriction of the Nepal army to its barracks had been intended as temporary measures aimed at assisting the creation of confidence for the election, they had continued for 11 months "with no end in sight".

Suggesting this was unacceptable, he underlined the view expressed in the Secretary-General's recent report on the request of Nepal for United Nations assistance in support of its peace process (document S/2007/612) that a prolonged stay in cantonments of thousands of mainly young people living under difficult conditions and lacking clarity about their future was not a sustainable situation. It also left UNMIN with no exit strategy in terms of its arms-monitoring role.

He noted that the special committee that had been intended under the peace agreement to decide the future of these Maoist combatants, and that had formed in May had held only a single meeting in July and could not proceed now that the Maoists had now withdrawn from the interim Government. UNMIN was not aware of any steps that had been taken towards the action plan required under the peace agreement for the democratization of the Nepal Army, determining its appropriate size and building its inclusive character.

Meanwhile, intimidation, violence and extralegal activities of the young Communist league had badly eroded public confidence that the Maoists were willing to enter a genuinely democratic process, he said. The increasing tendency of some within the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to regard street insurgency as an option if their demands were not met was also deeply worrying.

In light of all of this, and in addition to a reaffirmation to the holding the Constituent Assembly elections, Mr. Martin said the parties needed to take stock of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement and its implementation, with a view to strengthening it. He said he had been encouraged when, during a meeting just before his departure from Kathmandu, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala had said he intended to review the implementation of agreements. The Prime Minister had also intended to consult other political parties with a view to requesting an extension of UNMIN's mandate, which was scheduled to expire on 22 February 2008. Security Council discussions yesterday suggested such a request would be favourably received, he said.

Responding to a question about the involvement of India and China in Nepal's peace process, Mr. Martin said both countries were extremely supportive of the peace process and had lent a great deal of support to the preparations for the Constituent Assembly elections. He underlined that technical preparations had been on track and were being managed by an election commission that had been widely recognized for its competence and integrity. He said it was a positive situation that no real tensions existed amongst neighbours or Member States regarding the peace process and emphasized that the Security Council was unanimously supportive of UNMIN.

To a question about how the recent political developments affected plans for the United Nations to put a regional centre for peace and disarmament in Nepal, Mr. Martin said those plans were the result of a long-standing commitment to move it from its temporary home in New York to Nepal. There was no relation between that plan and Nepal's own peace process.

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