The Recommendation Committee constituted to nominate office bearers of the two transitional justice mechanisms –Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and Commission of Investigation on the Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP) — on January 18 submitted its nominations, reports The Himalayan Times. According to Recommendation Committee member Prem Bahadur Khadka, the committee recommended Ganesh Dutta Bhatta as chairperson of TRC and Yubraj Subedi as chairperson of CIEDP. Members of the TRC include Prachanda Raj Pradhan, Mana Dahal, Bishnu Pokharel and Govinda Gautam. Similarly, members of the CIEDP include Gangadhar Adhikari, Sunil Ranjan Singh, Sarita Thapa and Bishnu Bhandari. The committee was formed on March 26, 2019, to nominate office bearers in the TRC and CIEDP within three months, but it failed to do so due to differences between the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) and Nepali Congress (NC) over nominees.
Meanwhile, Conflict victims, who had been demanding wider consultations and transparency in the appointment process, on January 18 said they will not accept the new leadership handpicked by the parties, reports Kathmandu Post. Bhagiram Chaudhari, chairman of the Conflict Victims Common Platform (CVCP) said “The recommendation committee acted at the behest of the parties; its independence has come into question. We are not going to accept this leadership.” Similarly, “How can those appointed at the party leaders’ order investigate the cases against them?” Gopal Shah, chairman of the Conflict Victims National Network (CVNN), asked.