It's difficult to find fault with the contention of Defence Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa that the army should be under civilian command. However, confusion arises because the newly-renamed United Maoist party that leads the government has yet to dissolve its own army.

The party has a band of former guerrillas that it uses to strong-arm opponents and inserting the adjective "democratic" does nothing to soften its modus operandi. A complete dissolution of the YCL is the only way the Maoists can prove their non-totalitarian credentials.

And then the treasury still pays for the upkeep of another bunch of ex-guerrillas in the camps who do callisthenics, play football and study Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao to exercise their brains. Nepal can hardly afford one army, paying for two is not viable. A solution has to be found to accommodate and rehabilitate these youngsters. But the Maoists' indoctrination has been so effective that the party is finding it difficult to de-indoctrinate them. Some of them have begun to develop deep grudges against their own leadership.

Minister Thapa may, from time to time, need to show the Chief of Army Staff who is boss. But his real worry is that the present situation is becoming untenable for his own party. This issue can't be brushed under the carpet or sensationalised by public spats between leaders of coalition partners in the government.

One way to break the deadlock could be for the prime minister to ask his coalition partners-particularly UML and MJF-to suggest time-bound alternatives to rehabilitating former guerrillas. That can then become a basis for further negotiations. The Maoists' insistence that all their combatants should be inducted into the army and UML saying that they should actually be behind bars are both inflammatory. But before taking up the issue of combatants' future with opposition parties in the constituent assembly, coalition partners must sort it out among themselves. The future of the peace process depends on it.

Regardless of whether one likes the ex-guerrillas or hates their past, the fact is that their satisfactory integration into the mainstream is a vital element of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. Leaders must learn to take this issue seriously as the countdown of yet another extension of UNMIN's monitoring role in the camps begins.