Nepal's Maoist government Sunday sacked country's army chief for failing to comply with orders, a spokesman said, in a move that could trigger a showdown between the prime minister and the military. However, he has refused to accept the decision, according to media. The sacking -- three years after the end of the Himalayan nation's civil war -- is the latest episode in a worsening power struggle between the leftist former rebels and their one-time enemies in the army. “The cabinet meeting today decided to sack army chief Rookmangud Katawal from his post with immediate effect as his clarification for defying the government orders was not satisfactory,” spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said. Many government coalition partners opposed the sacking of Katawal and boycotted Sunday's cabinet meeting to express their support for the army. “The Maoists have made a unilateral decision and we are against it. This could derail the peace process,” said Bamdev Gautam, deputy prime minister and the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML). The army, a bastion of Nepal's former ruling elite, accuses the Maoists of not fulfilling commitments to end the paramilitary structure of their feared youth wing and to return property grabbed during the civil war. Deputy army general Kul Bahadur Khadka was appointed as the new army chief as a temporary measure, the government said. The Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (UCPN-M) has called on a meeting of small political parties at the parliamentary party office to collect the support on sacking Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Rookmangud Katawal on Sunday afternoon. An emergency meeting is being held by the top brass of Nepal's army at the residence of Katawal over the issue. “The general's challenge to the government over the eight brigadier-generals the government tried to retire last month is a pointer that Gen Katawal will go to court,” said a former lieutenant-colonel. The dispute is still being heard with the Supreme Court scheduled to deliver its verdict next week. Key political party protest The main coalition ally of Nepal's ruling Maoists withdrew from the government, threatening to undermine the Maoists' hold on power. “We have called back our ministers and withdrawn our support after the unilateral decision to sack the army chief,” Amrit Bohara, senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), told reporters. “The Maoists took the step despite our disapproval. They breached the politics of consensus and their behavior has endangered the peace process.”
