PLA will also recruit personnel if NA does so: PM
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said on Saturday that nobody can go against the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) and recruit personnel, warning that if Nepal Army (NA) goes ahead with its recruitment plan then Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will also follow suit.
PM Dahal, who is also the chairman of ruling CPN (Maoist), made this remark while speaking at a “general staff meeting” of the PLA held in the capial city and comes at a time when the NA is finding itself at odds with the Ministry of Defence over its plan to recruit personnel.
According to reports, PLA commanders taking part in the meeting had expressed objection over the NA recruiting personnel in violation of past agreements and demanded that the prime minister intervene and stop the recruitment in the national army immediately.
“The prime minister has said no body can recruit personnel by going against past agreements,” PLA deputy commander Chandra Khanal told Kantipur Daily, “both sides (NA and PLA) should respect the agreement. He said if Nepal Army doesn’t suspend its recruitment plan then PLA will also start taking in new recruits.”
He said the prime minister has, however, said that he is discussing the issue with top military brass.
Similarly, most of the PLA commanders present at the meeting also demanded that cantoned PLA and NA personnel be mobilized for development work, arguing that the process of army integration is slow and the combatants “must not be kept idle”. nepalnews.com Jan 04 09
Related News
- ‘Power centers’ driving wedge between NA and govt: Defense Minister
