Nepali parties divided on ways to reduce PLA number

Differences between the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (UCPN-M) and non-UCPN-M parties over the determination of ranks to be conferred on former UCPN-Maoist combatants opting for integration into the Nepal Army are likely to delay the commencement of the army integration process. According to Monday's The Kathmandu Post daily, of the 17,074 UCPN-M's People's Liberation Army (PLA) combatants participating in the regrouping process, over 9,700 have adopted for integration. Around 3,200 combatants will have to switch their interest from integration to voluntary retirement in order to meet the agreed 6, 500 limit in the number of former rebel soldiers in the non-combat directorate to be formed under the Nepal Army. The UCPN-Maoist leaders have said some senior commanders will go for voluntary retirement once the senior-most rank to be offered to the combatants is decided at the political level. "The number of integration aspirants will not fall significantly even if the rank is determined. So there has to be an agreement to integrate combatants above the 6,500 limit to the Nepal Police and the Armed Police Force," said Chandra Prakash Khanal, PLA deputy commander and secretariat member of the prime minister-led Special Committee overseeing the integration process. Opposition leaders argue that there is no possibility of political decision on rank determination. "The Nepal Army will test the qualification of combatants on individual basis and allocate ranks based on its standard norms," said Nepali Congress leader and Special Committee member Ram Sharan Mahat.According to him, there are three ways of bringing down the number of combatants opting for integration. One of them is for the combatants to voluntarily give up their preference as they were asked to choose integration in order to inflate the number of Nepal Army post aspirants. The screening of combatants by the Army would also bring down the numbers. "When the Nepal Army decides on the rank at last, some combatants will change their stance taken during the regrouping process," said the NC leader. The UCPN (Maoist) has said a panel comprising representatives from the Nepal Army, the PLA and experts should be formed to monitor the integration process before its execution. The bridge course and methods of selecting combatants should also be determined on the basis of consensus, according to PLA Spokesman Khanal.