Peace parleys between the emissaries of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and the Maoist extremists, resumed after three years, are off to a good start with both sides agreeing to control their respective armies and ask international observers to monitor the ceasefire."We are more hopeful than in the past," Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Maoist spokesman and chief of the rebels' three-member talks team opening the preliminary negotiations with the government, said late Friday night.
"This is a different government who are like colleagues. We have already reached an agreement with them and hope to take the talks forward since we are already unanimous on the main agenda - to hold elections (to decide if Nepal should remain a monarchy or become a republic.)"
Two rounds of dialogue between the rebels and two earlier governments broke down in 2001 and 2003 as the latter rejected the rebels' proposal to put King Gyanendra's position as the constitutional head to test by holding an election. The army also had a key role in breaking up the ceasefire by killing rebel cadres extra-judicially.
The fresh talks therefore began by focusing on arms control and laying down a code of conduct to be followed during the truce.
Both sides have agreed to stop military attacks and ambushes, including laying landmines. During the truce they will not recruit new soldiers or spy on each other. They will also stop public display of arms and soldiers and allow other political parties and social organisations to work freely.
The marathon preliminary talks, lasting for nearly six hours, were held in the lush Gokarna Forest and Golf resort in Kathmandu valley, a favourite haunt of Nepal's controversial Crown Prince Paras and well-heeled western tourists, who came out to watch curiously the underground rebels and the ministerial team holding an impromptu press conference late Friday night.
The earlier ceasefires were monitored by members of Nepal's civil society, whose protests went unheeded when either side violated the truce. This time, to show they are serious about resolving the decade-old insurgency and even older political turmoil, both sides have agreed to international monitoring of the truce.
Last month, the United Nations sent an envoy to Nepal for the first time since 2001 to meet members of the government. Tamrat Samuel, who also went to New Delhi to consult with the Indian government, is expected to play a key role in setting up a team of observers.
The talks hold out fresh hope to Nepal's beleaguered industries and business houses as well as people reeling under "double taxation" since the Maoists "People's War" began in 1996. Forced to pay "donations" to the guerrillas at gunpoint, they have now been reprieved with the guerrillas agreeing to stop extortion.
Both sides will also free all detainees and disclose the whereabouts of missing people. The Maoists estimate there are nearly 1000 cadres in prison and over 1200 missing. People displaced by the armed conflict will be allowed to return to their homes and be rehabilitated.
Both sides have also agreed to allow all educational institutions, hospitals and industries to work unhindered by strikes.
Home minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, who is leading the government team of negotiators, said the next round of talks would focus on the key agenda - how to hold the election for a new constitution.
However, due to security reasons he did not specify when or where the next round of talks would be held.
Mahara pledged that though the Maoists want to abolish monarchy, his party would honour people's verdict.
"If people still want a constitutional monarch, we will abide by it," he said during an interview to the official media of Nepal. "However, the royalists should also make it clear what they are going to do if people vote for a democratic republic."
At the end of the talks, Mahara warned that there could be a conspiracy to prevent the election and wreck the talks. Though he did not say who could be behind the conspiracy, the king, whose powers were shorn drastically by parliament earlier this month, is regarded with mistrust by the coalition government and civil society alike.
"If there are any impediments, let's solve them through dialogues," Mahara said. "We are committed to fulfilling people's aspirations. We don't want another civil war and bloodshed. We don't want to resume arms."
(IANS)
