Maoists in democratic set-up

Nepal ends monarchy, becomes a republic:

Interviewed by Samangie Wettimuny

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Nepal today is in the middle of a major political transition. As many political observers say Nepal was rocked by an electoral thunderbolt last April 10 when the Maoists won the Nepalese Constituent Assembly (C.A.) election 2008, quite unexpectedly.

It is even said that the victory has surprised the former rebels themselves. Millions of people voted in the elections to elect a 601-seat Constituent Assembly that will write a new Constitution.

As the Constituent Assembly Meeting in Kathmandu last Wednesday overwhelmingly voted to abolish the monarchy, Nepal has become the world’s newest republic, ending 240 years of royal rule. Only four members of the 601-seat assembly voted against the change.

The Constituent Assembly also declared Wednesday that it would send a letter to King Gyanendra and the royal family to inform them that they should vacate the palace in a fortnight.

Nepal has thus become the last Hindu regime in the world.

Last Tuesday, Nepal’s ruling coalition decided to create the post of President who will serve as the head of state, but it would take about a week to fill the post.

The removal of the monarchy is a great victory for the Maoists who fought nearly ten years since 1996 with the ruling government.

Out of the 601 Assembly seats Maoists won 220 seats, the other parties Nepali Congress and UML (United Marxist Leninnists) won 110, 103 seats respectively. Madeshi Janadhikar Forum also won 52 seats.

The rise of Maoists

Maoist party was formed in 1995.Maoists led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, (better known as Prachanda) entered the political arena after signing a peace deal in 2006 ending a decade-long insurgency.

“This was an election for the CA but your party’s campaign slogan was to make Prachanda the first president of Nepal. What was the thinking behind this particular slogan?” The Hindu (April 29, 2008) asked Prachanda following his massive victory at the elections. His reply was as follows:

“ There were two reasons. Of course this was an election for the CA and we were very clear about this. But we also wanted to show the people the Maoists are not just like any other old party and are different from them.And one way of doing this was to raise this issue of president.

Similarly, we called our manifesto our “commitment paper” to emphasise we were not simply making promises. The second reason was to show the people the nature of our unified and centralised leadership. This was also important.

For example, after the 1991 elections, there was a bitter fight within the NC between Ganesh Man Singh and K.P. Bhattarai and G.P. Koirala over the Prime Ministership. We wanted to tell people that with our party there would be no such unseemly problem. “

Prachanda in the same interview with The Hindu has also said that they “want the end of the monarchy to be done in an orderly, peaceful way. It is better that Gyanendra goes of his own accord. This way, a good atmosphere will be created for him to continue living in Nepal,”

Over the last fifteen years Nepal underwent a very unstable political situation. For the past fifteen years the country had 14 different Prime Ministers.

Actually in 1990, a pro-democracy movement forced King Birendra to remove the injunction on political parties. Nepali Congress party won the first free election held in three decades in 1991. Anyway the votes also indicated the gradual emergence of the Communists.

In this backdrop, in 1995, the Maoists started operating in the country as a small guerrilla movement. From the beginning they sought to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and install a Communist government.

In 1996 the Maoists attempted to replace the royal parliamentary system with a People’s Socialist Republic. The controversy led to the Nepal Civil war between the government forces and the Maoist guerrillas of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) which dragged for several years claiming more than 13,000 lives.

Enraged by the family disapproval of his choice of a bride, King Birendra’s son, Prince Dipendra killed the king , the queen and several other members of the royal family on June 1, 2001 before shooting himself. Prince Gyanendra, the younger brother of King Birendra, became the king as a result.

The King who considered the existing government as corrupt and ineffective, dismissed the government in October 2002. A state of emergency was declared in November,2002 and the king ordered the army to attack the Maoist guerrillas. Maoists then made their campaign even stronger and the conflict intensified claiming the lives of thousands of Maoists.

Since the Maoist rebels retreated from the peace talks with the government in August 2003 that ended a cease-fire that had been signed in January 2003.

In February 2005 King Gyanendra assumed direct power. Most of the politicians were placed under house arrest and civil liberties were severely restricted.

The unilateral cease-fire, the Maoist rebels declared in September 2005 also ended in January 2006. In April 2006, massive pro-democracy protests which were organised by seven opposition parties (largely supported by the Maoists) were in operation.

As pressure mounted and the protests intensified, King Gyanendra agreed to restore Parliament. The new parliament took steps to reduce the powers of the king and selected Girija Prasad Koirala as prime minister.

In May,2006 it voted unanimously to declare Nepal a secular nation and strip the king of his authority over the military.

The Maoist rebels and the government signed a landmark peace agreement in November 2006, ending their 10-year-old rebellion. In March 2007, the Maoists joined the interim government. Anyway a few months later, in September 2007, they agreed to rejoin the interim government in December, when Parliament voted to abolish the monarchy and become a federal democratic republic.

International relations

India is the largest investor in Nepal. The second largest investor is U.S.A. Since the U.S.A is still of the view that Maoists are rebels ( In the U.S.A , Maoist party is still considered as a terrorist group) the reaction of the world’s superpower as the new government was elected is worthy of study.

Nepal’s third largest investor is China and the Asian emerging super power has already given its consent to extend the rail service from Lasa (in Tibet) to Kasa.(in Nepal). Since Nepal (see Box) is bordered by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China, China needs Nepal’s help.

Though Tibet has been struggling to gain greater autonomy, China wants to retain it as a region of the country. In that context the recent statement of Prachanda that Tibet is a part of China is favourable to the latter.

India is also highly concerned of the future of Nepal and is willing to coordinate with the new government.

Most of the people in the country have already expressed their discontent over the ruling monarchy.

Prachanda has said that the king can even establish a new political party after abdicating the throne and could even contest to become the Prime Minister.

Amidst all this, Madeshi parties which largely represent the Madeshi community have imposed a slogan “Ek Madesh Ek Pradesh” “One Madeshi, one area.” They are now in conflict with the Maoists asking for a separate state.

In the same interview with The Hindu, when asked whether he still sticks to the same opinion that Nepal does not need a huge army, Prachanada has said that “ There is no final position. We feel in a small country like Nepal, there is no need to have a large army where other branches of development are more important.

This is our orientation that the size of the army should come down. Broadly speaking, we are thinking of a size of 30,000 to 50,000. This is our strategic thinking.

But we are not speaking of an immediate reduction in the army’s size. It will take 5 to 7 years to come to the right size. We don’t wish to disturb the institution of the army too much. But on the basis of a plan, over 5 to 7 years, we would like to have a smaller army. For example, we have to plan for alternative jobs for those who will no longer be required. “

There has been sparked concern among Buddhists as to how ‘the terrorists’ would treat the Buddha’s birth place -Lumbini in future.

As Nepal awaits the king’s move, the rest of the world keenly observe the reaction of the U.S.A. as Maoist party is still on the U.S. terrorism list.

Nepal

Nepal is a landlocked nation in South Asia. The country is sandwiched between two world superpowers- India and China. In fact Nepal is surrounded by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China to the northeast and India to the south and west. It is separated from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim and from Bangladesh by a small stripe of the Indian state of West Bengal.

The Himalayas which runs across the country’s North and Western parts cover three fourths of the land in Nepal. Moreover the Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain and seven other mountains of the world’s ten highest mountains are situated in Nepal.

The country has an estimated population of 28,901,790 (in 2007). The official language is Nepali.

Nepal has a special significance to Buddhists throughout the world as Lumbini, the birth place of prince Siddartha too is located in the Southern part of the country. The modern state was formed with the unification of Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah on December 21,1768. King Gyanendra will be the last king of Nepal as he vacates the palace in a fortnight and Nepal’s monarchy will then become the last Hindu regime in the world.