UN Sec General Ban lauds Nepal's peace process

Kathmandu, Apr 29: United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon lauded the peace process in Nepal but also expressed concern over the management of Maoist arms and personnel. "The peace process in Nepal has made remarkable progress since the start of last year, but complex questions remain about how to monitor the management of arms and armed personnel", Mr Ban said yesterday in his report to the Security Council, reports here said.

The Secretary General said that the upcoming Constituent Assembly elections must be conducted in a manner that reflects the genuine will of the Nepalis.

He also lauded the political parties for displaying willingness to seek consensus on some of the most contentious issues, adding however, that some of the underlying causes of the conflict are yet to be tackled.

"These are historic achievements," Mr Ban's report, released a year after the April uprising, said.

Meanwhile, he expressed concern regarding the living conditions inside the ''cantonments.'' "Conditions at cantonment sites have been of great concern to the UN Mission in Nepal (UNMIN)," particularly given the scheduled arrival in mid-June of the annual monsoon rains, Mr Ban said.

"It will also require a cooperative effort to establish public security through effective law enforcement that respects human rights, in a country previously divided between State and non-State actors and where the police have yet to be deployed nationwide." The seven parties and the Maoists have agreed to hold the election of constituent assembly to write a new constitution that will decide the future of the monarchy which ruled the Himalayan nation for nearly 238 years.

UNI

Related Stories

>