THE PROPOSAL PUT FORWARD BY THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF NEPAL (MAOIST) IN THE
TALKS (Initiated April 2003)
A. Preamble:
It is crystal clear that the 250 year old regime of our country Nepal has
now met with a critical crisis, mainly due to the internal contradictions
that existed between castes, languages, regions, etc promoted by the
internal and external regressive class relations. So now the restructuring
of the old regime has become unavoidable. Although the political movements
in 1950 and 1990 tried to address this problem, the experience show that
these revolutions could not deliver desired results. Therefore, the
oppressed groups, classes, communities raised arms in 1996 with an aim of
establishing a new progressive regime in order to catalyse social,
political, economic, cultural and other changes. It is also a clear fact
that the strategic balance between the old regime and the newly emerging
regime coupled with the geo-political situation of the country prompted a
progressive political solution through dialogue. So, both sides announced a
cease fire on 29 January 2003. Accordingly the CPN Maoist negotiation team
has put forward this list of proposals which can be further elaborated as
the dialogue proceeds on.
B. Goals and Objectives:
These are the goals and objectives of the peace talks between the
negotiation teams of the old and the new regime:
1. To put an end to the conflict situation through a progressive political
outlet.
2. To address the regional, ethnic, caste, gender and classical
contradictions through progressive and radical political, social, and
economic changes. And also to develop a democratic and prosperous Nepal by
seeking solutions to the problems associated with the nationality, people's
democracy, and livelihood.
3. To create a strong and pro-people national unity by developing democracy
and nationality as inseparable parts and accordingly protect the national
integrity and sovereignty.
4. To look after the civil and human rights of the poor and lower rank
citizen and to try and to provide essential rehabilitation and compensation
to the victims of the civil war.
C. Implementation of cease-fire and the code of conduct and creation of a
dialogue friendly environment:
Based on the ground reality that most of the rural areas are controlled by
the people's liberation army and only the capital city and the district
capitals and big towns are controlled by the royal army, a 22 point code of
conduct has been signed already, which dictates that neither side launches
armed invasion into the other's territory. Also a dialogue friendly
environment can be created only if both sides make public and release their
detainees. And the old regime has to do away with Terrorist and Destructive
Activities (Prevention and Control) Act (TADA) and similar other black
laws. To create a dialogue free environment, the following activities need
to be carried out within a defined time frame:
1. The whereabouts of CPN (Maoist) central leader Danda Pani Neupane and
other detainees in the police and RNA custody has to be made public by 14
May 03.
2. Politburo alternative member Rabindra Shrestha, and the central
committee alternative members Barn Dev Chhetri, Mumaram Khanal and other
held in RNA barracks and prisons have to be released within 15 days.
3. Within the next 15 days, all the fake court cases should be dissolved
and all the prisoners of ideology should be released.
4. TADA has to be dismissed quickly.
5. RNA should return to the barracks within a week and it should stop
search operations on civilians.
6. A committee consisting of the representation of different national and
international human rights organisations, occupational organisations, and
the civil society should be formed to monitor the implementation of code of
conduct, to check the situation of the disappeared ones and to release the
detainees.
D. Peace process and time table:
The following steps should be taken in order to make the peace process
fruitful and transparent:
1. A facilitator team should be formed with the agreement of both sides and
they need to be included in all the steps of the negotiation.
2. The date and venue of the dialogue should be fixed, through the
facilitators with mutual understanding.
3. As the core issue of conflict is with regard to the regime, the
political agenda should be a priority. The other issues can be slowly
raised.
4. Keeping in mind the fact that such an extreme political liquidity should
not be allowed to exist for very long, the peace process should be taken to
a fruitful solution as soon as possible.
E. Agenda of the talks:
1. Main political agenda
As the issue of regime is the key issue of the conflict, the political
agenda should be the priority. The key issue should be formation of a new
progressive regime and a new progressive constitution to define the regime
as the 1990 constitution has now become almost null and void and the
country is now operating in a constitutional vacuum. So the main issues
will be the method of formulating the new constitution and identifying its
contents. Although there are some strong points in the 1990 constitution
(such as multiparty competition, timely election, rule of law, press
freedom, freedom of speech, etc) there are some grave faults and
imperfections (such as so-called unchangeable points, contradiction between
the royal regime and sovereignty, dissolution of the true democracy of the
poor and the oppressed groups, regions, castes under the British "formal
democracy", etc). Therefore, it is essential that the method of formation
of a new constitution and the contents of the constitution have to be more
progressive than that of the 1990 constitution. Taking into consideration
the new wave of awareness of the people of the 21St Century and the new
strategic power balance created by the 7 years of people's war, there is no
possibility of going behind the 1990 or sticking at the mere outcomes of
the 1990. The following things should be taken into consideration while
formulating a new constitution:
a. The process or method of formulating a new constitution:
1) With the consent of the revolutionary force and all the other parties, a
broad round-table conference should be organised.
2) That conference should formulate an interim constitution without
crushing the democratic rights enshrined in the 1990 constitution and
reflecting a new political power balance and an interim government should
be formed under the leadership of the revolutionary party.
3) The interim government should conduct an election to a constituent
assembly within six months. The CA will be inclusive of different groups,
castes, regions and communities. CA will form a new constitution.
b. Minimum contents of the new constitution:
1) The people should be fully sovereign and the regime should fall entirely
upon the hands of the people.
2) As a supreme representative of the people, an elected people's house of
representatives will be formed which will include representatives from all
sectors and groups, such as women, dalit, janajatis, ethnic minorities,
linguistic groups, different religions, regions, etc. All the organs of the
regime will be accountable to this house of representative. Accordingly,
there will be representation of different groups in the government as well.
3) The provisions will be such that with a two-third majority in the
people's house of representatives or with a national referendum, any point
in the constitution can be changed.
4) The Royal Nepal Army (RNA) and the People's Liberation Army should be
unified by making certain structural changes and the unified national army
should brought under the control of the elected people's representatives.
5) The widely supported civil and democratic rights, such as multiparty
competition, timely election, right to franchise, rule of law, freedom of
press and speech, personal and human rights and civil rights should be
guaranteed.
6) A regional and ethnic self-governance should be implemented to give
people the right to self-determination.
7) The country should be made a fully secular state.
8) Education, health and employment should be established as personal
rights. All citizen should get free and readily available basic education
and health services.
9) A new "land relation" should be formed on the basis of "one who works
for the land owns the land". A just land distribution law should be
enforced. The industrial development should be geared towards the nation's
self-sufficiency. A conservation policy should be formulated in order to
protect the national capital and resources.
10) An independent foreign policy should be implemented by eradicating the
1950 Treaty with India and all the other asymmetrical treaties and based on
the principal of non-alliance and Panchasheel (literal meaning 5
traditional disciplines) A two thirds majority in the people's House of
Representatives should ratify all the treaties with the foreigners.
c. We believe that the parties who believe in the progressive political
outlet can come to an agreement on these progressive outlets. However, it
is impractical to forecast all the contents of the new constitution as the
Constituent Assembly will be carried out without any pre-conditions. We
want to clarify that the political forces can go to the people with their
views before the election to a constituent assembly.
2. National and socio-economic questions:
1. All the treaties, agreements, military assistance, presence of foreign
military personnel, and their activities in the name of controlling
terrorism should be stopped immediately.
2. The open Indo-Nepal border should be controlled and managed properly.
All the cross-border encroachments should be stopped. There should be a
system of work permit while employing a foreigner.
3. Gurkha recruitment, a national black mark should be stopped. And the
Nepalese should be given an honourable job within the country.
4. The foreign monopoly on the national industries should be stopped. The
national industries and the inland industrialists should be promoted. The
foreign debt should be wiped out within a certain time period.
5. The foreign encroachment and internal destruction created in the name of
NGOs and INGOs should be stopped and. The policies imposed by the
international financial institutions should be declared null and void.
6. A united and concerted water resources policy should be implemented. The
entire nation should be electrified by giving priority to the smaller and
medium scale power plants.
7. The debt of all the landless and the poor should be cancelled and they
should be provided with an employment.
8. All the landless people should be rehabilitated and provided with land
and employment. Kamaiya, Haruwa, Charuwa and such other discriminatory
practices should be dismantled.
9. The farmers should be provided with good quality seeds, irrigation and
the potential market.
10. The abrupt and continual price hike of the petroleum and other basic
needs should be controlled. The wage labour and the salaries of the
employees should be increased.
11. An effective instrument should be formulated to quickly punish the
corrupted, smugglers and those who receive graft.
12. A national and scientific education system should be implemented. A
joboriented education system is to be formed. The commercialisation and
privatisation of the education should be immediately stopped.
13. The free health service should be made available to specially the rural
areas.
14. Special services to the disabled, the elderly.
15. All discriminations on women should be stopped.
16. Equal rights to dalit by eradicating the problem of untouchability.
17. The minimum wage and fixed hour work (40 hours per week) should be
implemented effectively. The employees also should be included in
management of the factories.
18. A solid programme should be implemented for the welfare of the youth.
19. Ensure intellectual independence and occupational conservation of the
professionals, such as literatteur, doctors, engineers, etc so that they
can best deliver their services to the people.
20. The production and distribution of documents that spread open western
cultural pollution.
21. Infrastructure development in the villages should be carried out
rapidly.
22. The rights and privileges of Nepalese working in the foreign lands
should be ensured.
23. Those killed in the different revolutions for the country should be
declared martyrs and the murderers should be punished.
24. All the pro-people demands put forward by the pro-people organisations
should be addressed immediately.
3. The issues of human rights and compensation and rehabilitation:
1. A high-level human rights commission should be formed with the
involvement of the representatives of the human rights organisations to
carry out an independent investigation of the human rights abuses and to
punish the perpetrators.
2. The families of the martyrs should be immediately supplied with relief
supports and compensation.
3. Those injured in the civil war should be treated freely.
4. Those displaced in the civil war should be rehabilitated in their
original locality or somewhere else.
F. Programme and Monitoring:
Those issues agreed by both parties during the peace talks should be
implemented within a certain time frame and an evaluation team should be
formed to check if the agreements have actually been implemented.
Signed by: Baburam Bhattarai Co-ordinator Negotiation team, CPN