NA to enlist 5,000 more: Bhandari

Himalayan News Service

KATHMANDU: Defence Minister Bidhya Bhandari today said the Nepali Army would soon start the recruitment process to fill more than 5,000 vacant posts.


Speaking at an interaction programme here, Bhandari claimed Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal had given his consent to the recruitment process.


Bhandari’s remark come at a time when UNMIN and UCPN-Maoist have been saying additional recruitment in the NA would be the violation of Comprehensive Peace Accord.


Bhandari added that the Maoists should submit their weapons to the nation. She said, “They can not lead the government until they are disarmed. Similarly, promulgation of new constitution is impossible until Maoist keep weapons with them.”


On the issue of army integration, Bhandari reiterated her previous stand. She said, “Bulk entry of the Maoist combatants into the security agencies, including the Nepali Army, is impossible because it would invite the disintegration in the country.”


It sounds bitter, but it is the reality that integration of Maoist combatants in army will pose a threat to the future security of the nation, Bhandari added.


She said, “If integrate Maoist combatants into army, it will set a bad precedent and other armed groups may also demand integration.”


She claimed that the Maoists were using the Constituent Assembly and the peace process to seize the state power. She claimed that the Maoists still believed in the politics of violence. Other parties should understand that and be careful, she added.


Maoists had not fully adopted the peaceful means and they are in a ceasefire mode, she claimed. She added that the Maoist wanted to establish totalitarian regime in the country and were using different tools to achieve that end.


She said the government would pass the budget through majority if Maoist did not cooperate.