Oli red-faced over 'missing' letter to UN

By Tilak P. Pokharel

KATHMANDU, July 8 - Guilt and deceit were visibly reflected on his face. However, at times, he tried to show confidence and to justify the logic behind "hiding" a government letter recently sent to the United Nations.

It was neither a witness stand in court nor a police station. And, the person in question was none other than Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister KP Sharma Oli who was grilled by the Parliamentary Peace Process Monitoring Committee at the Parliament Secretariat over the government letter sent to the UN inviting the latter to monitor and manage weapons held by Maoists and the Nepalese Army (NA) ahead of the constituent assembly (CA) elections.

Oli, who earlier explained to the Committee headed by Speaker Subas Nembang "the contents" of the letter, admitted later - following a heated debate with lawmakers - that he hadn't seen the final letter signed by the Prime Minister.

Interestingly, most of the MPs grilling him were from his own party - CPN-UML: the Speaker himself, Asta Laxmi Shakya, Pradip Nepal, Bharat Mohan Adhikari and Mahendra Pandey. Other MPs were Chakra Bastola and Ram Krishna Tamrakar of Nepali Congress (NC); Homnath Dahal of NC-Democratic and Lilamani Pokharel of People's Front Nepal.

"It is the right of the Committee to ask for the letter," Oli said. "And, it's my duty to produce the letter." He however said he couldn't get hold of the final letter as the Prime Minister was hospitalized hours after sending it to the UN on July 3. He also asserted that the contents of the letter were discussed with Maoists before putting the finishing touches to it.

He said the government, in the letter, has requested the world body to monitor the cease-fire, implementation of the Code of Conduct and human rights situation; manage the Maoist army and its weapons; see to it that the NA remains within barracks; and to ensure that the CA elections are conducted in free and fair manner playing an "observer" role during the election.

"However, no military assistance has been sought," said Oli. "I want to assure you that the letter was written appropriately following discussions at the political level… Despite his ill-health, the Prime Minister sent the letter with careful and serious thought."

Despite admitting that his ministry was the concerned government authority regarding the letter, Oli repeatedly insisted he had no knowledge of the final letter, the Speaker asked, "Isn't the letter somewhere in a government custody?"

"The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is also a responsible authority," Oli replied, stating that he couldn't go and "check the PM's briefcase" for the letter. However, a PMO source said a copy of the final letter was also sent to the Foreign Ministry.

"So, you also haven't seen the letter?" asked Adhikari.

"No, I was involved in drafting the letter. Only that I haven't seen the final letter bearing the PM's signature," Oli said ambiguously, with a mixture of "yes" and "no".

"Why does the government try to hide the letter, which should have been made public to show to the whole world?" asked Nepal. "The government is a system. It is not that the nation too falls sick along with the Prime Minister."

In protest, the MPs insisted there was no relevance of continuing the meeting as the government couldn't produce the letter. The Speaker asked Oli if he could produce the letter on Sunday. No sooner had he said "hmm…no" than Bastola quipped, "We can seek a copy of the letter from the UN by Sunday." Finally, Oli agreed to bring the letter on Monday.