Nepal: Fallout From Political 'Crisis'

Nepal: Ban Concerned Over Fallout From Political 'Crisis'

New York, May 4 2009 10:10AM Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced serious concern over the threat posed to the peace process in Nepal amid a political crisis brewing in the fledgling democracy.

The relationship between the Government and the Chief of Army Staff, who was fired by the Prime Minister on Sunday, lies at the centre of the turmoil.

According to media reports, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, leader of the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-M), has tendered his resignation to the Asian country's President and the Chief of Army Staff has been reinstated.

In a statement attributable to his spokesperson, Mr. Ban called on all concerned "to resolve the crisis through dialogue and consensus, with full respect for the provisions of the constitution."

In a report released last week, Secretary-General noted that progress has been made in Nepal's peace process, including steps towards drafting a new constitutio n, but warned that relations between the (CPN-M) and its main coalition partner, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (UML), as well as among the four political parties in the Maoist-led coalition Government, remain "fractious, marked by public acrimony and weak consultation over major decisions."

A decade-long civil war, claiming some 13,000 lives, ended in 2006 with the signing of a peace accord between the Government and Maoists. After conducting Constituent Assembly elections last May, the nation abolished its 240-year-old monarchy and declared itself a republic.

ENDS

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