Peace Stability Operations

S.K.Acharya

In order to address the post-conflict situation, especially when people of Nepal are willing and prepared to make a profound and active contribution in nation building, it is crucial for all political parties to come out with a common agenda for country development and establishment of peace and security. Only Government's efforts to re-establish rule of law and administration of justice after the peace process agreements are not sufficient. Instances of human rights violation, violation of the rule of law, inadequate law enforcement are increasing. Demand of the situation at this phase is through, thorough discussion the parties should be able to project a joint policy and approach to deal effectively with the 'threats' confronting the country and commitment in establishing rule of law.

Expectations

After entering into the peace process and into the government, Maoists are expected to actively participate in the areas of disarmament, establishment of peace and security, and economic and social development. Since the initiation of peace process, the expectations of the Nepalese people and their hope for betterment and development have increased despite so many disturbances.Except for the formation of the coalition government, political parties have neither projected nor expressed their willingness of any joint approach to deal with the present deteriorating peace and security situation faced by the country, which is an issue of vital importance and the government alone is unable to take effective measures to resolve the problems. Everyone especially, all political parties should actively participate in peace keeping process. It is also important that anticipating the probable threat, all parties should decide course of action by actively discussing among themselves and involving experts from all parties in a decision making process. All political parties needs to be aware of that all Nepalese people are concerned and watching the party's role and effectiveness in establishing stability, peace and security in the country. As everyone is aware that all political parties can agree on so many things and can sign so many agreements to handle the situation, why can't they come up with a joint agenda to cope with the deteriorating peace and security situations?

It is the belief of the people that in restructuring the country, a more active and constructive role of the Maoists would definitely improve the effectiveness of country's development effort.Peace and security should be the prime objective of any programme or strategy designed for stability operations. Without the climate of the peace and security, any effort for the infrastructural development, holding elections and overall efforts of nation building would be undermined. One year's stability operations process show that the government is trying very hard and is moving very slowly and patiently. Everyone observing the situation can conclude that without any cooperation and commitment from other parties, organizations, and international help, the government alone can not establish peace and security on time and in a desired manner. The government seems to have their own constraints of proper resources and capabilities to carry out the law and order situation. In addition, the government lacks a clear and cohesive plan for interparty cooperation for peace stability operations and rule of law. It is very difficult at this moment to effectively measure whether the stability operations process so far indicates success or failure in establishing rule of law and peace in the country. However, the government's patient is paying and there are enough reasons to be optimistic. But the process is very slow and dissatisfaction of the people can be felt.

The government needs to have a clear organizational understanding on how to achieve these goals and how to get the cooperation of parties, other organization and international partners. Taking the reign in its hand and making room for all voices and expertise from all parties and international partners, the government should be able to lead by developing and implementing policies and strategy necessary to establish rule of law in the country. And government should publicly announce their policies and plan of action to win the heart of the people.However, establishing peace and stability after a post-conflict environments is not an easy job and cannot be compared to fighting a small war. Implementing rule of law, which emphasizes civil and political rights after post-conflict environments will be a great challenge. During this period it is very difficult for governing authority to establish or implement rule of law while taking into consideration legal framework, the law of armed conflict, international humanitarian law, human rights law, and local law rooted in custom or religion.

Rule of law is a vital element in establishing security and peace in the country. It is necessary for all to understand and respect rule of law, which forms the ground rules by which government policies and legislation are formulated, and administrative works are accomplished. Moreover, since the initiation of the peace process, it is necessary for all to understand that the government is subject to law.In simple words, the rule of law, in brief, means the principle of legality. In a rule of law society, everything must be done in accordance with the law and nobody is above the law. The Government should also derive its powers from the law and should exercise in accordance with the law. Those in the government must understand that the Government is vested with certain discretionary powers, its discretion must be exercised rationally and without procedural impropriety, and the courts are there which can prevent abuse of power. It is the right of the citizens to challenge in courts the legality of acts of the government.

Strategy

In a democratic system, if somebody wants to change the system or if somebody advocates any new system, he should be allowed to do so provided he does not incite others to accept the change through treason, subversion, or violence or public disorder.Achieving sustainable peace in the post-conflict environment requires developing local rule of law capacities. Effective planning for the transition from peace keeping operations to peace building and long term development is vital.The involvement of political parties and other partners in the policy making process, and a fruitful relationship with the civil society should be among the priorities of any post-conflict strategy

Source: The Rising Nepal, May 22, 2007