Stalled Nepal peace process to resume next month
Integration of former Maoist combatants into Nepal Army, an important aspect of Nepal's stalled peace process, is set to resume from September. Utpal Parashar reports.
Integration of former Maoist combatants into Nepal Army, an important aspect of Nepal's stalled peace process, is set to resume from September.
An all-party meeting of the special committee for supervision, integration and rehabilitation of the former Peoples' Liberation Army personnel decided on Monday to resume the process from September 6.
The integration process has remained stalled since early July following controversy over age and qualification details of the 3,123 former rebels who chose to join the army.
Nepali Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat told reporters after the meeting that the committee has agreed to recognize the age of the combatants mentioned in their citizenship certificates.
The integration process, which has progressed in fits and starts since 2011, came to standstill after Nepal Army found that nearly 800 former rebels were minors when they had joined PLA.
The tenure of the special committee, which had expired on August 16, was extended by another three months last week.
Resumption of talks among parties on the peace process has also given hope that similar discussions would soon begin to end the three-month old political and constitutional deadlock in Nepal.
The present crisis is result of dissolution of the Constituent Assembly in May without promulgating a new constitution and differences between the government and opposition over fresh polls.