Government ministers and the leaders of the ruling political parties have been continuously talking about the need for weapons management before elections to the constituent assembly. Normally, in an assembly election, or election to any body for that matter, all mainstream political parties or forces should compete as independent entities without arms. If any armed force tries to play a role, the result will surely not be in favour of freedom and human rights. Being armed would signal that the groups do not have faith in the people, a point that needs to be considered seriously. Probably that is why the government and the Maoists at their high level meeting on 16 June agreed on the need to manage weapons.

Further, they agreed to invite the United Nations to manage the weapons before the constituent assembly elections. Consequently, the government has now sent a formal letter to the UN. UN Assistant Secretary General Kul Chandra Gautam, who was in Nepal a few days back, hinted that the UN would take the request positively. We would expect that no further dispute will arise as the government and Maoists have already agreed to seek UN assistance. Therefore, the UN should immediately assemble a team of diplomats and experts and start work in the areas requested by the government. No delays should be permitted that might allow the trust between the government and Maoists to fade away.