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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 04 KATHMANDU 001091 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/01/2017 
TAGS: PGOV PTER PREF NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: SPEAKER OF PARLIAMENT HOPEFUL POLITICAL 
IMPASSE WILL END SOON 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 1077 
 
Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty.  Reasons 1.4 (b/d) 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Speaker of the Interim Parliament Subash Nemwang told 
visiting Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and 
Labor Barry Lowenkron and Ambassador Moriarty May 31 that the 
governing Eight-Party Alliance had reached an informal 
understanding on a new date for a Constituent Assembly 
election.  The Speaker indicated that he was optimistic that 
a political solution would be found shortly to the ongoing 
obstruction of the Parliament.  He mentioned that the 
Constituent Assembly Court Bill and, most importantly, the 
Constituent Assembly Member Bill needed to be passed. 
Nemwang agreed with the Ambassador that Communist Party of 
Nepal - United Marxist Leninist General Secretary Madhav 
Kumar Nepal opposed re-opening the decisions of the Electoral 
Constituency Delineation Commission but thought an acceptable 
compromise could be found to meet Madhesi concerns.  Nemwang 
shared Assistant Secretary Lowenkron's and the Ambassador's 
dissatisfaction with Maoist activities.  He thought, however, 
that if the seven parties were unified, the Maoists would not 
be able to prevent announcement of a new election date.  The 
Speaker also spelled out his views on the leadership gap at 
the National Human Rights Commission, the situation in the 
Terai, and the nationwide strike called for June 1 by Nepal's 
umbrella organization for indigenous nationalities. 
 
Informal Understanding On Election Date 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) In a meeting May 31 with visiting Assistant Secretary 
of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Barry 
Lowenkron and Ambassador Moriarty, Speaker of the Interim 
Parliament Subash Nemwang cited the Interim Constitution, the 
Interim Parliament and the Interim Government as significant 
achievements over the past year.  One of the principal 
challenges had been to get the Maoists into the political 
process.  The most important remaining challenge was the 
Constituent Assembly election.  The parties had initially 
agreed on a June date, but that had proven impossible.  The 
Speaker explained that the governing eight parties had 
reached an informal understanding to hold the election in 
November (as suggested by the Election Commission), but as 
yet there was no formal agreement.  He was hopeful, however 
that the parties, which were scheduled to meet later the same 
day, would fix a date soon.  (Note:  The parties announced 
later the same day an agreement to hold the election no later 
than December 15.  End note.) 
 
Hope That Parliament Could Resume Meeting 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) The Speaker admitted that Maoist, Madhesi, (and more 
recently) RPP (Rastriya Prajatantrik Party or National 
Democratic Party) Members of Parliament had been "obstructing 
the House."  (Note: The Interim Parliament has not been able 
to hold general sessions for a month and a half.  End note.) 
Nemwang said that he had spoken with party leaders as well as 
MPs and a deal was in sight.  What was needed now was a 
political agreement, and he was hopeful it would be 
forthcoming. 
 
Moving Forward With Electoral Laws 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Nemwang opined that, if the Parliament were meeting, 
it would be easy to make progress on the outstanding 
electoral laws.  He identified two: the Constituent Assembly 
(CA) Court Bill and the CA Member Bill.  With respect to the 
Court Bill, he said, there was only one outstanding issue. 
The Maoists wanted persons who were not sitting members of 
the judiciary appointed to the special electoral court.  The 
parties refused: they wanted sitting judges only.  The 
Speaker stated that he thought the Maoist objection could be 
overcome because they had now joined the Interim Government 
 
KATHMANDU 00001091  002 OF 004 
 
 
and had gained a say over the Judicial Council.  Nemwang 
described the CA Member Bill as the most important pending 
legislation.  It spelled out the election process itself, as 
well as the means for including disadvantaged groups.  He 
said that the eight parties were near agreement on the second 
bill's provisions.  The Election Commission had recommended 
that, once the Parliament adopted the two bills, the election 
date could be announced. 
 
Madhesi Demand That Constituency Boundaries Be Redrawn 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶5. (C) The Ambassador asked the Speaker whether Madhesi 
concerns were the main obstacle to a political agreement on 
the various issues.  Nemwang responded that one of the 
original reasons why Madhesi MPs had been obstructing 
Parliament had been to press for the formation of a judicial 
commission to probe the incidents that had occurred in the 
Terai in the initial months of 2007.  The Cabinet had granted 
that demand.  Now the Madhesis were pushing for a total 
redrawing of the Electoral Constituency Delineation 
Commission (ECDC) boundaries.  The Ambassador noted that the 
Speaker's party chief, Communist Party of Nepal - United 
Marxist Leninist (UML) General Secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, 
was angry about this (reftel).  Nemwang said he had heard the 
same message.  The UML General Secretary had argued that it 
was wrong for the Madhesi MPs to insist on a new Commission 
report when the Government of Nepal had formed the Commission 
to please the Madhesi MPs.  It was better in that case for 
the GON to adopt a purely proportional electoral system.  The 
Ambassador reported that he had been in Biratnagar (Morang 
District) in eastern Terai when the ECDC had announced its 
decision.  At least in Morang, Madhesis from across the 
parties had been outraged, complaining that the Commission 
had drawn the constituency boundaries to discriminate against 
them. 
 
Boundary Compromise Possible 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6. (C) Nemwang voiced the opinion that there might be a 
little room for compromise on the issue of ECDC boundaries. 
For a review of the delineation, the Interim Constitution 
would have to be amended, but it could be done.  The trick 
would be to follow an approach M.K. Nepal had suggested.  The 
GON could review part of the Commission's boundary decisions, 
but it would be impossible to reopen all of them.  Moreover, 
before the process started, it would be necessary also to 
identify which constituencies were being reviewed and why. 
There could be "no blank check."  The Speaker noted that the 
Madhesi People's Rights Forum (the leading Madhesi group) had 
started calling for a purely proportional system for the CA 
election.  Previously, only the Nepal Federation of 
Indigenous Nationalities, a grouping of janjatis (ethnic 
Tibeto-Burmans), had been raising this issue. 
 
Maoists Another Big Obstacle 
---------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) The Speaker concurred with the Ambassador that the 
Maoist insistence on the declaration of a republic prior to 
the CA election was another major obstacle to the 
announcement of a new election date.  The Maoists had openly 
agreed in January that the question of the monarchy would be 
decided at the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly. 
Now they claimed no election would be possible as long as the 
monarchy existed.  The Maoists were citing the failure to 
hold the CA election in June as the pretext, the Speaker 
said, for the change in their position.  Assistant Secretary 
Lowenkron expressed concern that the Maoists had one leg in 
the political process and one leg outside.  From his travels 
worldwide, he had seen, as in the case of Hamas, that you 
could not sustain a democracy where one party retained the 
right to intimidate with impunity.  In light of the Maoist 
Young Communist League, and the Maoist decision to keep many 
of the members of its People's Liberation Army (PLA) outside 
the UN-monitored camps, what did Nemwang consider to be their 
true intentions?, Lowenkron asked. 
 
 
KATHMANDU 00001091  003 OF 004 
 
 
Speaker Sees Maoist Glass Half Full 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) The Speaker acknowledged that Maoist tactics and 
maneuvers raised serious questions about Maoist intentions. 
Yet he affirmed that he was hopeful the Maoists were making 
progress.  "Before they were resorting to arms to solve any 
problem, now they obstruct the Parliament - without arms." 
Nemwang said he had argued to the Maoist Chief Whip, Dinanath 
Sharma, that it was not wise for the Maoists to obstruct the 
Parliament for so long.  A functioning Parliament provided 
the Maoists a forum to expound their views.  The Maoists had 
recently decided, the Speaker added, to end their 
parliamentary protest, possibly the result of the GON's 
recent decision to give PLA "combatants" in the cantonments 
3,000 Nepali Rupees each per month.  Instead, he said, the 
Maoists planned to take their struggle for a republic to the 
streets.  Some Nepalis were wondering if the Maoists were 
serious about holding a CA election. 
 
Need To Fill the National Human Rights Commission 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶9. (C) The Assistant Secretary queried the Speaker about what 
was being done to appoint the members of the National Human 
Rights Commission (NHRC) (which has had no commissioners for 
nearly a year), calling the NHRC a critical component in 
Nepal's democratic transition.  Nemwang answered that the GON 
had nominated three commissioners, including a chief, but 
that the Interim Constitution had charged the task of 
appointing NHRC commissioners to the Constitutional Council. 
Prime Minister Koirala was the chairman of the Council and he 
had to take the initiative of naming Ministers to serve on 
the Council.  The Speaker, who is also a member of the 
Council, said he had raised the issue recently with the PM. 
 
NEFIN Bandh on June 1 
--------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Nemwang stated that the Nepal Federation of 
Indigenous Nationalities (NEFIN), Nepal's umbrella 
organization for indigenous nationalities (janjati), had 
indeed called a transportation and business strike or bandh 
for June 1.  The Maoists were not involved in NEFIN, but the 
Maoists had declared that they would support the NEFIN bandh. 
 This was the Maoist approach -- to come forward when 
something was happening.  The Speaker said NEFIN would retain 
the leadership of the strike. 
 
Security Situation Poor 
----------------------- 
 
¶11. (C) The Speaker agreed with the Ambassador that the 
country's security situation was poor.  He focused especially 
on the "plains" (the Terai).  Extremist groups had 
proliferated, some of uncertain origin or with criminal 
connections.  Several groups were extremely violent, 
particularly in the Terai.  Nemwang acknowledged that the GON 
did not look very serious about maintaining law and order and 
did not seem to be present in the countryside.  One reason 
was the presence of the Maoists in the Nepali Government. 
Maoist sister organizations, such as the Young Communist 
League (YCL), were involved in offenses.  YCL abuses had 
everyone in Nepal talking.  The Election Commission, 
meanwhile, was emphasizing that a Constituent Assembly 
election could not be held if the security situation did not 
improve. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶12. (C) In his May 31 meeting with Assistant Secretary 
Lowenkron and the Ambassador, Speaker of the Parliament 
Nemwang was optimistic that the a political solution could be 
found soon to the impasse on rescheduling Nepal's Constituent 
Assemly election.  As it turned out, later the same day, the 
Seven-Party Alliance and the Maoists reached an 11-point 
agreement on several outstanding issues, including holding 
the CA election, most likely in November.  One of the 
 
KATHMANDU 00001091  004 OF 004 
 
 
negotiators told Emboff May 31 that the deal included 
agreement that the Interim Parliament would resume meeting 
and that certain electoral constituency boundaries would be 
reviewed and possibly redrawn.  According to Nepali Congress 
- Democratic MP Minendra Rijal, several parties added written 
objections but they still signed.  He added that the Interim 
Parliament had already resumed operation.  The end to the 
impasse looks to be good news for the peace process and 
Nepalis. 
 
¶13.  Assistant Secretary Lowenkron has cleared this cable. 
MORIARTY