KATHMANDU,
Nov 8 - The ruling seven-party alliance and the
Maoist rebels have finally reached a historic
agreement putting an end to the decade-long
armed insurgency. The different rounds of
informal meetings and "summit meets" held
between the two sides since May, after the
collapse of the autocratic royal regime, have
finally resulted in agreements on all political
and arms issues, paving way for the Maoist
rebels to join the political mainstream.
The
groundbreaking agreement comprising six major
points was reached after 21 hours of rigorous
discussions between the two sides during the
fifth round of summit talks that took place on
Monday and Tuesday at the Prime Minister's
Residence at Baluwatar.
The historic
agreement was signed by the top leaders of all
the eight parties and made public on Tuesday
night (Nov 8, after 1 am).
As per the
agreement, an interim legislature and interim
government including the Maoists will be formed
by November 26 and December 1, 2006,
respectively.
The total
number of lawmakers in the interim legislature
will be 330 with the Nepali Congress (NC),
CPN-UML, Nepali Congress-Democratic (NC-D),
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), People's Front
Nepal (PFN), Nepal Majdoor and Kisan Party (NMKP)
and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (NSP) retaining the
number of seats they have in the existing
parliament in the interim legislature also.
Including
Upper House, the NC, UML, NC-D, RPP, PFN, NMKP
and NSP (both) have 75, 73, 42, 8, 5, 1 and 5
seats respectively in the existing parliament.
The Maoists
will have 73 berths in the interim legislature.
The remaining 48 seats will be divided among the
SPA, Maoists, other fringe parties and the civil
society.
The two
sides have also agreed to promulgate the interim
constitution on November 21. The king will have
no constitutional right in the interim
constitution. The reinstated House of
Representatives (HoR) will announce the interim
constitution which will be endorsed by the
interim legislature on the same day. The HoR
will be dissolved after issuing the interim
constitution.
An interim
government including the Maoists will be in
place by December 1 after the two sides sign a
comprehensive peace agreement by November 16.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala will lead
the interim government.
The task of
separating the Maoist combatants from their arms
will be completed by November 24. The Maoist
combatants will be kept in "seven divisions and
21 brigades" and their arms will be locked up in
storages. Electronic devices will be installed
in the storages so that any attempt to tamper
with the locks and movement in the storages will
trigger a siren. The monitoring and supervision
of the Maoist arms will be done by the UN.
The
cantonments will be located in Kailali, Surkhet,
Rolpa, Palpa, Kavre, Sindhuli and Ilam.
Possession of any illegal weapons by anybody
after the Maoist combatants are kept in
cantonments with their arms locked up will be a
punishable act.
An equal
amount of weapons of the Nepal Army, too, will
be locked up in a storage under the same system.
The Nepali Army, apart from the soldiers
guarding wildlife reserves, national parks,
electricity and telecommunications
towers/installations etc, will be confined
within their barracks until the CA elections are
held.
The two
sides also agreed to decide the fate of the
monarchy through the first sitting of the
constituent assembly (CA). The UML, which has
been insisting on deciding the issue of monarchy
through a referendum, however, registered a
"note of dissent" on the agreement on monarchy.
Besides, the property of late king Birendra and
his family will be converted into a trust
mobilised by the government, and the property of
King Gyanendra that he had inherited as the king
will be nationalised.
There will
be a 425-member constituent assembly. 205
members of the CA will be elected from the
existing 205 electoral constituencies. The
parties will nominate 204 members based on the
number of votes they will get in the elections
for the 205 members. The Prime Minister will
nominate the remaining 16 members.
The two
sides have also agreed on a mixed electoral
system (proportional and geographical) for the
constituent assembly elections, with the UML
again tabling a note of dissent on this issue as
well. The UML had been pressing for a
proportional system for the CA elections.
An agreement
has also been reached to form a Constitutional
Court to resolve disputes pertaining to the CA
elections.
All Nepalis
above 18 years of age will be eligible to cast
their votes in the CA elections which will be
held by mid-June 2007.
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