US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU1524

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001524 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS, LONDON FOR POL/GURNEY, NSC FOR MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/10/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, NP, Political Parties, Government of Nepal (GON), India Relations 
SUBJECT: NEPALI CONGRESS WILL NOT JOIN GOVERNMENT OR PEACE 
TALKS, DESPITE INDIAN PRESSURE 
 
REF: A. KATHMANDU 1496 
     B. KATHMANDU 1486 
     C. KATHMANDU 1507 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Michael E. Malinowski for Reasons 1.5 (b) and 
 (d) 
 
Summary 
======== 
 
1.  (C) On August 8, the Ambassador met with Nepali Congress 
(NC) General Secretary Girija Prasad Koirala, completing a 
week of meetings with party leaders.  Koirala relayed his 
telephonic discussions with Maoist leaders still in New 
Delhi, over the past week.  The NC will not join the formal 
Government-Maoist negotiations but will continue to meet 
informally with both groups.  Koirala sees only one means to 
restore democracy, through the restoration of parliament.  He 
resents Government of India pressure for him to compromise 
this position and join with the current government.  End 
summary. 
 
Nepali Congress and Maoists in Dialogue 
======================================== 
 
2.  (C) The Ambassador met with Nepali Congress (NC) General 
Secretary Girija Prasad Koirala on August 8.  At the 
 
SIPDIS 
beginning of the meeting, Koirala quickly reviewed his phone 
conversations of the previous week with Maoist leaders Pushpa 
Kamal Dahal (alias Prachanda) and Baburam Bhattarai, who were 
still in New Delhi.  During the phone conversations, Koirala 
asked the Maoists not to return to fighting, as there was no 
future in it.  If the Maoists return to the table, Koirala 
offered to help them  to achieve "safe landing."  In 
Koirala's assessment, the Maoists will not go back to 
terrorist violence and used brinkmanship only as a 
negotiating tactic to put pressure on the government. 
 
3.  (C) In terms of the Maoists' July 31 demand to the 
government that the political parties participate in the next 
round of negotiations, Koirala stated that the only logical 
means to do so was for the King to restore the lower house of 
parliament.  In Koirala's opinion, parliament offered a legal 
forum to sanction any government and any settlement with the 
Maoists.  Despite Koirala's vehemence, the Maoist leaders 
reportedly were non-committal, saying only that they were 
flexible.  Koirala said he  had demanded also that the 
Maoists give up their extortion, killing, and kidnapping, to 
which the Maoist leaders agreed.  (Events described in ref A 
belie Maoist statements.)  When the Maoist delegation (headed 
by either Bhattarai or Ram Bahadur Thapa (a.k.a., Badal) with 
one other, unidentified member) arrives in Kathmandu, Koirala 
expects to have a separate meeting with them.  He reported 
that the NC continues to hold informal discussions with both 
the Maoists and government.  Koirala stated further that they 
are informally providing the government the results of their 
discussions with the Maoists. 
 
Compromise with the Government Not Possible 
============================================ 
 
4.  (C) Koirala stated that the NC would not join the 
goverment led by Surya Bahadur Thapa which does not even have 
the support of Thapa's own party, Koriala explained, and 
which Koirala exspects will soon collapse.  There is no 
reason for the NC Party to go down with the Thapa government, 
he insisted.  The Ambassador pressed him on the party's 
options if the King does not restore parliament.  He replied 
that if an all-party government is formed (the approach 
favored by the NC's traditional opposition, the Communist 
Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist, led by Madhav Nepal), 
it would not have sufficient mandate to negotiate with the 
Maoists.  In Koirala's opinion, only a legal body like 
parliament could settle with the Maoists.  (Note:  The NC 
held the majority of seats in the last parliament.  If 
parliament was restored, it is likely that Koirala hopes to 
be selected as prime minister.)  Koirala believes that the 
emergency powers given to the King in the Constitution 
(Article 127) could be used to reinstate parliament and 
argues that the party's position has the full support of the 
Constitution's authors and human rights advocates.  Despite 
this public position, Koirala affirmed that the party has 
worked informally with both the current Thapa and prior 
Lokhendra Bahadur Chand cabinets, as a means to factor the 
party's ideas into the negotiations. 
5.  (C) When the Ambassador asked what had happened with the 
five-party recommendation to the King that Mahdav Nepal serve 
as the consensus prime minister, Koirala said the deal is now 
void.  He explained that the only place for an all-party 
government is after an agreement is reached with the Maoists. 
 In that circumstance, the all-party government would serve 
as a caretaker administration in order to hold elections. 
The Ambassador asked Koirala's opinion on whether Krishna 
Prasad Bhattarai (septel) could serve as a consensus prime 
minister.  Koirala disingenuously replied that he did not 
care who served as prime minister, as long as it was 
determined in an all-party process, but added that Bhattarai 
was physically unwell. 
 
Koirala Resents Indian Pressure 
================================ 
 
6.  (C) Koirala stated that the Government of India (GoI) 
continues to put a great deal of pressure on his party to 
join the Thapa government.  Koirala expressed his clear 
frustration that the GoI did not accept his party's position 
of support for restoring the parliament, and labeled the 
Indian approach in Nepal as bungling.  The Ambassador asked 
Koirala for his opinion on third party negotiation 
assistance.  Koirala relayed a conversation he had held with 
Tamrat Samuel, a representative of the U.N. Under Secretary 
for Political affairs who visited Kathmandu the last week of 
July.  Koirala told Samuel that U.N. assistance would be 
appropriate at the time of Maoist demobilization, not before. 
 The delay was required, Koirala argued, because the GoN and 
Nepal's "big brother" to the South, the GoI, did not want 
outsiders to intervene.  After Koirala's open criticism of 
India, he reaffirmed his support for American assistance.  He 
added that he had no objections to any of the USG's programs 
or activities in Nepal. 
 
Comment 
======== 
7.  (C) Koirala's diatribe against India is clearly linked to 
India's lack of enthusiasm for the NC position to restore 
parliament, and Koirala's open resentment against Indian 
pressure to join the government.  The party's position is 
nothing new, and past agreements among the recognized 
political parties to form a united front against the King are 
showing cracks.  This is the last in a week of meetings with 
all major political party heads (refs B and C).  These 
meetings have revealed that even with the near collapse of 
the cease-fire on July 31 and the invitation for the parties 
to participate in the negotiations, the parties are nowhere 
near ready to compromise with the Palace.  The political 
stalemate will reach its first anniversary on October 4. 
MALINOWSKI