This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/20/world/asia/nepal-agreement-may-break-deadlock-over-leadership.html

The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Nepal Agreement May Break Deadlock Over Nation’s Leadership Maoists Block Deal to Break Nepal’s Long Political Deadlock
(about 5 hours later)
NEW DELHI — Nepal’s major political parties have tentatively agreed to select the country’s Supreme Court justice as an interim prime minister so elections can be held in June, potentially breaking a five-year deadlock that has left the nation with a hobbled government. NEW DELHI — Nepal’s major political parties failed on Tuesday to complete an expected agreement to settle a years-long political standoff, after Maoists insisted that the accord include amnesty for past crimes.
The agreement is expected to be formally signed early Tuesday evening. The chief justice, Khilaraj Regmi, is expected to lead a technocratic cabinet that will seek to resolve the many issues that have stymied for years efforts to hold a follow-up set of elections to those held in 2008. The amnesty issue derailed a tentative deal reached on Monday to appoint as interim prime minister the chief justice of the country’s supreme court, Khil Raj Regmi, to lead the country until elections in June. Now it appears that the wrangling will continue indefinitely, worsening the paralysis of the country’s civic functions.
Devendra Poudel, adviser to the present prime minister, Baburam Bhattarai, confirmed in a telephone interview that his Maoist party is ready to support Mr. Regmi’s elevation. Nepal has been trying to establish a working representative democracy since 2008, when a constituent assembly was elected to replace the former monarchy. But the assembly has been unable to draw up a constitution or settle on when or how to hold further elections. Maoists, who fought a long civil war against the monarchy, now control the most important government posts, but the ethnic, caste, religious, ideological and regional differences that permeate Nepalese society have made even the most basic political agreements impossible.
“We support the chief justice’s leadership of the elected government,” Mr. Poudel said. Meanwhile, the country’s judiciary has been arresting former Maoist fighters from the bitter civil war, which cost at least 13,000 lives, prompting the Maoist party to call for amnesty and for a less punitive reconciliation process, such as a parliamentary committee that the party could influence.
Rajendra Dahal, a spokesman for President Ram Baran Yadav, said that the president is expected to approve the new agreement when it is presented to him Tuesday evening. “Amnesty is still under consideration,” said Devendra Poudel, adviser to the present Maoist prime minister, Baburam Bhattarai. “Instead of addressing one or two issues separately, why not deal with them all in the same package?”
“Of course the president will be happy,” Mr. Dahal said. “The president’s single mission is to have elections. That is his priority, so any way the parties get some consensus in the goal of having elections, the president will support.” But the country’s other political parties and civil-society organizations have insisted on a process in which war criminals are jailed.
Constitutional experts in Nepal have raised a host of concerns about the agreement, not the least of which is how Mr. Regmi will later be able to adjudicate challenges to an electoral process that he oversaw. His elevation also brings together two arms of the government that many see as vital to keep independent of one another. “The Maoists are very much afraid of the regular judiciary of this country,” said Rajendra Dahal, a spokesman for President Ram Baran Yadav, a leader of the centrist Nepalese Congress party. “But until there is an agreement, they will control the government,” he said of the Maoists. “So they benefit from the standoff.”
Kanak Mani Dixit, a civil rights activist and commentator, said the selection of the chief justice may be the least worst option facing the country. But he said he was worried that the Maoists have supported the chief justice as an interim head of the government in hopes of discrediting the Supreme Court, which he said was the last civic institution in Nepal with any credibility. Mr. Dahal said that the president had welcomed the tentative deal to put the chief justice in charge temporarily. “The president’s single mission is to have elections,” he said early Tuesday. “Any way the parties get some consensus in the goal of having elections, the president will support.”
“The Maoists agreed because they have already destroyed every other important institution of the state,” Mr. Dixit said. “The only one remaining to be compromised is the Supreme Court.” By late Tuesday evening, however, the optimism surrounding the tentative agreement had faded.
Mr. Regmi is expected to be appointed to a three-month term as prime minister, after which he would return to the court. If Mr. Regmi is unable to oversee elections in that time, a new agreement would have to be reached. Kanak Mani Dixit, a civil rights activist and commentator, said he was worried that the Maoists supported the deal in hopes of discrediting the Supreme Court, which he said is the last civic institution in Nepal with any credibility.
Nepal’s transition to democracy has taken more than five years, paralyzed by ethnic, caste, religious, ideological and regional differences that permeate Nepalese society and have made even the most basic political agreements impossible. “The Maoists agreed because they have already destroyed every other important institution of the state,” Mr. Dixit said.
The move toward a representative government began in 2008 with great promise after the election of the Constituent Assembly. But the assembly was unable to draw up a constitution or settle on the timing or method of holding further elections. Mr. Regmi was expected to be appointed to a three-month term as prime minister, following which he would return to the court. If Mr. Regmi had been unable to oversee elections in that time, a new agreement would have had to be reached.
In recent years, Mr. Bhattarai has led the government as prime minister. But he has rejected all proposals to replace him, and other political parties have refused to allow elections while Mr. Bhattarai runs the crucial levers of government, saying his oversight would make the elections unfair. The Maoist leader, Mr. Bhattarai, rejected all previous proposals to replace him, and other political parties have refused to allow elections while Mr. Bhattarai and his allies hold the crucial levers of government, saying that his oversight would make the elections unfair.
In the meantime, basic civil functions in Nepal have begun to fail one after the other, and its economy — never robust — has stalled. The result has been a diaspora of Nepalese to surrounding countries that has led to exasperation among Nepal’s neighbors — particularly in India, where many of the immigrants settle. In the meantime, basic civil functions in Nepal have begun to fail one after another, and the country’s economy, never robust, has stalled. As a result, Nepalese have been emigrating to neighboring countries in large numbers, to the exasperation particularly of India, where many of the migrants settle.