Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Three major parties have reached an agreement on the bill related to transitional justice.
The three parties forged a consensus during a meeting of a task force, which was formed to iron out differences among the parties on the Bill, held in Kathmandu on Thursday.
“We have made good progress today. All the remaining issues between us have been resolved,” Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak said after the meeting. “Killings during the conflict period have been defined as intentional or arbitrary.”
According to him, the three parties have agreed that the victim’s consent will be necessary for reconciliation and amnesty. “If there is no consent from the victim, the government can prosecute the perpetrators,” Lekhak added.
Although a consensus has been reached, Mahesh Bartaula, the chief whip of the CPN-UML, said that the task of preparing and submitting the report to top leaders is still pending. “The task force meeting has reached an agreement on all issues of disagreement related to the bill,” he added.
Bartaula said the report will be submitted to the three senior leaders – Prime Minister and CPN-UML Chairperson KP Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairperson Pushpa Kamal Dahal – by Saturday. “We have risen from today’s meeting with 100% consensus. We still need to share with the top leaders,” he said.
Lekhak, Bartaula and CPN (Maoist Center) Deputy General Secretary Janardan Sharma were involved in the discussion.
Bartaula also said that the agreement was reached keeping the victims at the center, considering the precedents of the Supreme Court and ensuring that it does not conflict with international law. He added that this bill would be passed by the ongoing session of parliament. “Now, we will conclude the peace process by bringing it to a conclusion. We need everyone’s cooperation in this,” he added.
The Bill is currently under consideration in the Law, Justice and Human Rights Committee of the lower house.
“We have proposed a four-year tenure for the commission. We are hopeful that all pending cases of the conflict period will be settled by the commission in this period,” Bartaula added.
Maoist Center’s Sharma said the task force held clear discussions about necessary relief and reparations for both security forces and former combatants.
Bartaula also said that the task force has agreed to include former combatants and not to use the term ‘child soldiers’ in the Bill.
The Bill was registered in parliament in February 2023 by then Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. Parties had formed the task force to iron out differences in the Bill in May of the same year.
