US embassy cable - 04KATHMANDU46

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000046 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2014 
TAGS: PGOV, NP, Political Parties 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  AS PROMISED, KING MEETS POLITICAL LEADERS 
 
 
Classified By: AMB. MICHAEL E. MALINOWSKI.  REASON:  1.5 (B,D). 
 
1.  (C)  Summary:  As promised to Assistant Secretary for 
South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca and the Ambassador, King 
Gyanendra has begun meeting with leaders of political parties 
to develop a national consensus to restore democratic 
governance and defeat the Maoist insurgency.  Most of the 
leaders, who had clearly been hoping that the King would 
commit to dismissing the current government instead of asking 
them to commit to good governance, are greeting the 
initiative with guarded optimism, apparently reserving 
judgment until they can determine how the King's overture 
might be turned to their advantage.  In responding to the 
parties' clamor for a hearing, the King has deftly put the 
burden on them for developing national consensus as a 
possible precursor to an all-party government.  End summary. 
 
 
2.  (C) As he indicated in his December 17 meeting with 
Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs Christina Rocca 
and the Ambassador, King Gyanendra has begun meeting with 
political party leaders in an effort to forge a national 
consensus.  The King, who has not been in direct 
communication with most of the party leaders since early 
June, began this most recent effort at reconciliation with 
estranged party leaders by meeting with Madhav Nepal, General 
Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist 
 
SIPDIS 
Leninist (UML), on January 2.  The monarch held subsequent 
separate meetings with Nepali Congress (Democratic) President 
Sher Bahadur Deuba and National Democratic Party (RPP) 
Chairman Pashupati SJB Rana on January 5.  On January 6 the 
King conferred with Nepali Congress President and five-time 
Prime Minister G.P. Koirala, who recently has been the most 
vocal public critic of the monarch's "activism."  The King 
was expected to meet with United Front President Amik 
Sherchan and Nepal Peasants and Laborers Party President 
Narayan Man Bijukchhe in separate meetings late January 6. 
 
3.  (SBU)  According to party sources, the King asked each of 
his interlocutors to help develop "a national consensus" 
based on a seven-point program, which included resolving the 
Maoist insurgency; restoring law and order; battling 
corruption; fostering good governance; preparing for and 
participating in national and local elections; and promoting 
national unity.  Party contacts said the King appeared to 
predicate support for an all-party government--the protesting 
parties' premier demand--on the parties' commitment to his 
program, but made no specific promises. 
 
4.  (C)  Party sources said they regard the King's overture 
as an encouraging first step, but seem to be reserving more 
enthusiastic judgment until they can determine whether, in 
fact, the King will consider a change in government.  UML 
Central Committee Member Jhala Nath Khanal sounded the most 
optimistic, saying the royal initiative was a positive sign. 
The UML has been quietly contacting other party 
representatives, he said, who feign nonchalance but are 
"inwardly interested" at signs of a thaw in the chilly 
relations between the Palace and the parties.  Much depends, 
however, on whether the King is "sincere" in his efforts this 
time, Khanal added. 
 
5.  (C)  Sources in other parties similarly tempered their 
cautious optimism with doubts about the King's sincerity. 
All said they had no quarrel with the goals of the King's 
seven-point program but questioned how it could be 
implemented under the current royally appointed government. 
Recounting to the Ambassador his meeting with the monarch, 
Nepali Congress (Democratic) President Deuba said he 
emphasized to the King the need to change the 
government--preferably by reinstating him as Prime 
Minister--in order to develop best the much-needed national 
consensus.  According to Deuba, the King remained 
noncommittal on this question, noting only that he could not 
appoint either UML leader Nepal or Congress President Koirala 
as Prime Minister. 
 
6.  (C)  In his meeting with the King, G.P. Koirala stressed 
that the "misunderstanding and confusion" between the Palace 
and the political parties must be cleared up before 
addressing the question of national consensus, according to 
Nepali Congress spokesman Arjun Narasingh K.C.  Once the 
Constitution is reactivated--preferably by reinstating the 
most recent Parliament--and "democracy is put back on track," 
a strong all-party government can be formed to counter the 
Maoist insurgency and implement the seven-point program, 
Koirala reportedly suggested.  That said, Koirala described 
his meeting with the King as "a good start," K.C. reported, 
and urged the monarch to begin more regular dialogue with the 
parties.  (Note:  This is not, however, what Koirala told the 
local press, which quoted him as saying that the meeting did 
not make him hopeful about prospects for reconciliation.) 
 
7.  (C)  RPP Chairman Pashupati Rana told the Ambassador that 
he believes his meeting with the King was the "most positive" 
of all so far.  The King is seeking political consensus on 
key questions of national importance on which all parties 
should be able to agree, Rana emphasized.  Once such a 
consensus is developed--a goal he did not appear to be 
believe would be difficult--the King might consider allowing 
the formation of an all-party government, Rana suggested. 
(Rana did not, however, say that the King had actually 
articulated such an offer.) 
 
8.  (C)  Comment: During the six-month silence from the 
Palace, the parties' clamoring for a royal hearing has 
escalated--along with their fears and accusations that the 
King aims to reconsolidate his power by attempting to resolve 
the Maoist crisis and other national challenges without 
considering their inputs or interests.  For most of the 
protesting parties, the antidote is simple:  the King should 
appoint one of them to head a new all-party government that 
will develop a national plan to solve these problems.  By 
reversing this order and asking the parties first to endorse 
a set of fundamental national principles, like law and order, 
anti-corruption, national unity, and good governance, the 
King has essentially thrust the burden back on them to prove 
their ability to develop a cohesive national vision--and thus 
their ability to govern--to meet these challenges.  While it 
may be difficult for the parties to reject the King's 
overture outright, it may prove equally difficult for them to 
develop quickly the consensus that has eluded them during 
most of the last decade. 
MALINOWSKI