By IANS,
Kathmandu : As the rift between Nepal’s Maoists and the other political parties deepened following the resignation of Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked the parties to honour the peace pacts ahead of a UN Security Council meeting.
The UN chief said that he was saddened by developments leading to Prachanda’s resignation. However, he was encouraged by the former guerrillas’ assurances of their commitment to the peace process, including continued participation in the drafting of the constitution.
Reiterating his call for restraint and political consensus, Ban has asked all the stakeholders to “strictly” adhere to the comprehensive peace agreement signed in 2006 that led to the end of the communist insurgency.
He has also asked for the parties to honour the arms pact, which “stipulates clear and specific restrictions on the Nepal Army and the Maoist army”.
The secretary-general’s statement, issued by his office in New York, would be a shot in the arm for the Maoists who were forced to pull out of the government over a row with the army chief.
The ruling party had fired Nepal Army chief Gen Rookmangud Katawal for disobedience after he refused to halt military recruitment.
The UN has said during the row that the recruitment was in violation of the peace pacts.
The statement came ahead of the UN Security Council meeting in New York to discuss a recent report on the developments submitted by Ban.
Though the report was tabled before the fall of the Maoist government, Ban’s representative in Nepal, UN Mission in Nepal chief Karin Landgren, would brief the Security Council on the current situation in the country.