Nepal's historic vote puts women in the running
- Log in to post comments
By Farooq Tariq
April 13, 2008 -- The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) victory in the constituent assembly election held on April 10 is a great step forward for the forces of the left in the region and internationally. Not only the CPN (Maoist) but also the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist) (UML) received more votes than the Nepal Congress. At the time of writing, the CPN (Maoist) has won 69 seats, UML 21, Nepal Congress 20 and the Peasant Workers Party 2 seats.
The Maoists are heading to become the single largest group in the 240 constituent assembly seats that are being decided on a first-past-the-post basis. Nearly 60 per cent of the 601 seats in the constitutional assembly will be decided by a complex proportional representative votes, whose final results will take a couple of weeks to be decided. The future of King Gyanedra and the Shah monarchy hangs by a thread straining under the weight of the Maoists' mandate.
The elections were due last year on November 12. But the Maoists walked out of the transitional government a month before the general election. They demanded that all parties agree before the elections that Nepal will become a republic and Shah had to lose the remaining few powers after the elections.
The elections had to be postponed and the after protracted discussions, the Nepal Congress and UML agreed to the Maoists' demands. This was a stunning victory for the CPN (Maoist). The UML had relied on its election experience and was of the view that the CPN (Maoist) would not be accepted as the main voice in the cities.
``They have no experience of general elections'', I heard from several main leaders and supporters of the UML while I was in Nepal in October 2007. The masses did just the opposite. They voted for those with no experience of elections but with full experience of fighting for basic rights.
The Maoist Youth launched a campaign all over Nepal after the success of the movement in 2006 against the corrupt officials in the bureaucracy. They would Gherao (picket) any government office for this purpose and sometimes they would kidnap the corrupt to be paraded in public later. These incidents happened while I was in Nepal.
This practice brought a very forceful message in a society that is in the grip of absolute poverty. There is no comparison with poverty of the people in Nepal with other part of South Asia. Nepal is well ahead in this category. The infrastructure is in very bad condition.
Earlier in 2006, a mass movement initiated by the various radical social movements was joined by hundreds of thousands people and forced the King to withdraw his dictatorial measures and to restore the parliament. He was deprived of all powers as head of the armed forces after the success of the movement.
Communist forces have been very strong in Nepal for a long time. They have fought the most repressive regimes in the past. At one point, the CPN (UML) was in power for a period of nine months while the King was still the head of the state. The UML became the largest communist party in Nepal. It has close relations with the Communist Party of India (CPI), the CPI(M) and the CPI(ML), the three main communist parties of India. The UML has some contacts with the Labour Party Pakistan (LPP) through its mass organisations in the peasantry and trade unions.
There is absolute no basis for a counter-revolution after this stunning victory. The masses are very well aware and they will not accept any attempt. In fact, the military suffered a crushing defeat in 2006 by the mass movement. It will take long time for it to recover.
The victory of left forces, mainly the Maoists, will have a tremendous effect on the politics of the South Asian countries. It will radicalise a whole new layer, and particularly it will have a tremendous effect on the youth in Pakistan where a mass movement against the military dictatorship is still going on.
During the attacks by Pakistan's Musharraf dictatorship on the media after the imposition of emergency rule in November 2007, a Nepali trade union leader came to visit Pakistan at the invitation of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist. He was very warmly received all over and he spoke about Nepal's experience in fighting dictatorship. In one meeting, which I was also attending, he said, ``Do not give up the fight, it takes time but it will win, the dictatorship has to go, be united and fight together''.
How far the CPN (Maoist) will be able to solve the basic problems of the masses will have to be seen. But while I was in Nepal, there was a meeting of a World Bank official with the Maoist minister in charge of Kathmandu water. They were in negotiations for the privatisation of Kathmandu water. It seemed that the minister was not much worried about privatisation but more interested in the aid that will come through World Bank. There was some criticism on this meeting by activists in the meeting I was attending.
Would they go for nationalisation of the big institutions and cancel the privatised ones? I do not see that. They will more go along the lines of working with a shadow of capitalism rather breaking with capitalism. They will mainly copy their communist brothers and sisters in India. More like a West Bengal condition rather than a Venezuela-type development.
The victory of CPN (Maoist) is a massive step forward for the people of Nepal. Once and for all they will get rid of King and the Shah family. Nepal will start a new era. However, it can go at a much faster speed to development if it does away with capitalism as well as the Shah family. There is no basis for stages. This stage of capitalist development under a radical government has not much room to maneouver. The Maoists have to go further than the program they have at present if Nepal is to go further.
In Pakistan, we will all celebrate the victory of the CPN (Maoist) and other left forces of Nepal and will show our maximum solidarity with the new radical government.
[Farooq Tariq is spokesperson for the Labour Party Pakistan. Visit http://www.laborpakistan.org and http://www.jeddojuhd.com]
From Monthly Review Zine http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/shrestha140408.html
By Johan Petter Andresen
The elections in Nepal on Thursday, April 10th, resulted in a victory for the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), stunning the mainstream international press.
Mulyankan monthly magazine is almost 18 years old. It is the largest leftist monthly magazine of Nepal, with a circulation of 30 000 copies per month. Shyam Shrestha has been actively seeking to promote a broad left unity in Nepal.
Kirtipur
Sunday,13th of April, 2008.
JPA: What do we know about the results of the election to the Constituent Assembly, now three days after?
Shyam: To this date the Maoists have won 47 seats out of 84 in the first past the post part of the election, CPN(UML) 16, Nepali Congress 12, Madhesi Forum 6, Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party 2, DMDP 1 and the People's Front 1. The Maoists will also win the proportional part of the election, maybe even by more.
As of the end of the day on Monday, April 14th, winners have been declared in 184 of the 240 "first past the post" constituencies. Of these the Maoists have won105, the Nepal Congress 30, the UML 24, and the Madhesi Forum 16. The final results for the 335 proportional representation seats will not be known for several weeks, but it is now certain that in the forthcoming Constituent Assembly the Maoists will at minimum be the dominant bloc with as many seats as the next three largest parties combined. -- Ed.
JPA: Can we say anything about the representation of Dalits, women, ethnic and national minorities in the forthcoming Constituent Assembly?
Shyam: The proportion of these groups will be increased significantly, because in the proportional system 50% should be women, 31% Madhesi and so on. In the first past the post part this is not compulsory, so in totality the proportion of women will be minimum 33% instead of 6% which is the proportion in today's interim parliament. This is an historic high. Janajati (ethnic minority) people will also increase their representation. Not by exactly 37%, decided by the interim parliament, but it will increase. A Madhesi party, MJF already have 6 representatives. Dalits and backward regions will also increase their representation. So all these groups will have a multiple increase of representation compared to the previous parliaments.
JPA: What do you think are the main consequences of the election for the parties in Nepal?
Shyam: The consequences are that the Maoists will emerge as the strongest political party in the Constituent Assembly. It may get a clean majority, that is an historical record in Nepal. Never before has a single party acquired a clean majority in Nepal. If you add the votes of the CPN(UML) to the Maoist vote, they will have a two thirds majority. And also this is historical. The consequence is that the CA can write a radical constitution. Nepal will be a federal democratic republic for certain! This is a political revolution through elections. Three weeks from now the CA will come together and the first meeting will implement the decision to declare Nepal a federal republic. This will be a tremendous revolution in the politics of Nepal. And now that the Maoists and the CPN(UML) have over 66% it is quite certain that Nepal will be a republic for the first time in history. Another consequence is that a new government will be formed and it will be headed by the Maoists. This in itself is a significant event for the world as a whole. No Maoist has ever before led a government [installed by elections]. Major posts will be held by Maoists.
JPA: Even the defence ministry?
Shyam: Yes, the normal thing here is that the prime minister also heads the defence ministry. The U.S. and Indians might protest against this, but the Nepali people have given their mandate.
The writing of the new constitution will be mainly influenced by the leftist forces, even though the Nepali Congress will have a significant representation. They will also be represented in the government as it will be a coalition government.
JPA: Will the feudal class take this defeat lying down?
Shyam: They must. They have no choice. The Nepali people are rising, their level of arousal is amazing. They are more ahead in consciousness than the leadership of the political parties.
The feudal class will try to resist change, but the CA composition and the level of awareness of the people is very high, they cannot withstand this pressure.
JPA: Which options do you think that the palace has?
Shyam: The palace has three options: 1. Accept the result happily and transform itself in accordance with the decisions of the CA. The king would then become an ordinary citizen. 2. Flee from the country, as has happened in other countries. 3. Resist with the help of the army and face the blow of the people. Today's king is a very foolish king, he may even go for the third option. But he will not be successful if he tries a coup d'état.
JPA: Gyanendra and family are a very rich family. Is it possible for the state to retrieve some of the money that the king has stowed away?
Shyam: The state has already decided that whatever property he has in banks around the world, except for his personal property, shall be expropriated. All the land, palaces and money. The state has retrieved the money from the banks in Kathmandu, but not from foreign banks. The personal money of the king will not be touched but the money belonging to the former [murdered] king Birendra will be confiscated. It's billions! All the land, temple lands and palaces that belonged to Birendra will be confiscated. This has been decided by law and now it is a matter of implementation.
JPA: The Maoist organization was small in 1996. Now, 12 years later it is the strongest organization in Nepal. Can you explain this explosive growth and the consequences of such an explosive growth on the organization itself?
Shyam: There are two reason.
1. During the past 12 years the people's war encompassed the whole country. The Maoist organization successfully multiplied reaching 72 of the 75 districts. They built their organization through this war. It was amazing, but they managed. They formed organizations in all fields, like among peasants, workers, artists and so on during the civil war. At the end of the war 80% of the country was under Maoist control. Even the military accepted this high figure. They could expand to such an extraordinary extent because they were popular at the time. This again was because ordinary people were frustrated with all the political parties. This gave the Maoists political advantages. This also gave them an organizational advantage. Many cadre of CPN(UML) and Nepali Congress also joined the Maoists.
2. The negative reason is that Maoists took the organizational line of taking everybody without screening into their ranks. Even royalists and bad elements were taken into their organizations. In Kirtipur, where I live, there are many royalists and bad elements in the Maoist organization. Criminals have also entered their organizations. And back in my village in Kavre district, there are also reactionary elements in the Maoist organizations. This is harming the Maoists and has decreased the popularity of the Maoists somewhat. Because when the people see that the bad elements are with the Maoists they lose faith. For example: Some people don't want to pay money they owe to the bank, so they join the Maoists to avoid it. Some bad elements join the Maoists for personal revenge. The organization has become so big that is beyond the control of the leadership now and then. The Maoists put an emphasis on being the biggest party in Nepal. And this is a consequence. To win the election they also needed a bigger party. This growth may bring very serious results in the future. It already has repercussions: When the Maoist leadership make a directive about something, now and again the opposite happens.
JPA: What other national repercussions do you foresee from the election result?
Shyam: Smaller parties may now try to join together and create a collective challenge to the Maoists. The international community of the capitalist camp may create serious problems for the Maoists like they have for Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela. I expect that their attitude will be the same. This may suffocate the government. Even the army and the civil machinery can resist changes that the Maoists try to bring in the political and economical fields. But if the Maoists mobilize the whole of the people and tactically maintain the seven party unity, this challenge can be met. We can't of course know for sure if these will be the consequences.
JPA: What will be the effects on the rest of South Asia?
Shyam: In India the Maoist organizations there might be influenced by the events in Nepal. They may also start negotiating and follow the lines of the Nepali. The moderate left, CPI and CPI(M) are half in the government, and now they have seen what has happened to CPN(UML), so maybe they will try and pressurise a Maoist government in Nepal to come over to their line. Ties with China may be strengthened and ties with India may get more strained than before. The U.S. may be more hostile to this government.
JPA: What will be the effect on China?
Shyam: The Chinese government will be pleased when the Maoists come to power. There will not be much affect on the class struggle in China. In the last two years the relationship between the Maoists and China has become amicable and the Chinese have invited the Maoists to China. They are taking more interest in the development of the Maoists in Nepal. China will be a backing power for a Maoist government. The Indians will also try and win over a Maoist government and transform them in their class interest. We will have to wait and see what the Maoists will do. The Maoists are no longer openly calling the Chinese Communist Party "revisionist." In order to hold onto the government they must have support from China. Maoists are also trying to make good relations with India. Although they have not been able to have good relations with the U.S. government, they are now trying to change this through Jimmy Carter. They want to make good relations with the U.S. government. Perhaps if Obama becomes president, then the U.S. position will change toward the Maoists. The hard stand may be softened. The Democrats are somewhat different from the Republicans
JPA: Do you think that the Maoists can live up to the high expectations that their supporters have?
Shyam: It is not possible. They have to maintain the coalition government. The coalition will also contain Nepali Congress. NC will try to drag them toward liberalism and "free market" economy and adapt them to status quo. The future will show how far they will be able to resist this pressure. If they can maintain the popular support of the people by launching land reform, industrial reform, change in the system of governance and meet the expectations of the people so that they see change in their lives and a lower level of corruption, they will have done well. They can face these negative factors.
JPA: Prachanda stated yesterday that once the political structure is transformed and a federal republic is in place, that focus must turn to economic transformation. He promised a huge leap forward economically the next ten years. Can he deliver?
Shyam: They can if they wish. Nepal is not a poor country when it comes to resources. The problem is the political system and leadership. The water resources, land resources, forestry resources, herbal resources, biodiversity resources and so on are enormous. We also have mineral resources: Gold, copper, iron, coal and maybe even uranium. We also have oil and gas resources. If the country can manage its resources it can become rich very soon. I'd also like to mention that our soil is very fertile, we have three crops in a year. And of course we have a beautiful country, so we can develop tourism too. The Maoists should only give expectations to those dreams that can be realized, not those that cannot. The Maoists have said that they can generate 10,000 MWs in ten years. That may not be possible, but maybe 5,000 MWs. They have said that all of Nepal will be electrified in ten years and that they will eradicate illiteracy in 5 years. It may not be possible in 5 but in ten years. The main thing is to see progress in the correct direction.
JPA: The intelligentsia had not expected such a wide support among the people for the Maoists. Will this election change their attitude to the Maoists?
Shyam: Most of the intelligentsia will support the Maoists. The liberals are now changing their attitude. It depends on the behaviour of the Maoists. If the Maoists stop coercion and extortion towards the middle class and ordinary people and they control and screen their cadres better and start taking positive steps, then attitude of the intelligentsia will change. Of course the hard core reactionaries will not change, but the majority of the middle class intelligentsia will change. The civil society in Nepal is one of the most active and influential in the world and they may be very positive if Maoists are not pompous, make social transformation and are not corrupt. The civil society leaders are radical in Nepal and this may be a very positive factor. They are not all communist, but they are radical. They will be critical. If the Maoists can achieve an inclusive state and really do something significant with poverty and bad governance they will come to their help. But they are against extortion, coercion and extremism.
The majority of the intelligentsia voted for the Maoists now. Even many that belonged to CPN(UML) voted for the Maoists. They want change and the peace process to continue.
JPA: The Maoists say that they were compelled to start the People's War in 1996 as there was massive exclusion and repression, and that the peace deal in 2006 and the period after are a continuation of the same struggle that they have been fighting for since 1990. Do you think that the ten years of civil war was necessary to achieve the democratically elected Constituent Assembly?
Shyam: My personal view is that they could have struggled peacefully to the last extent. But they did not. The parliamentary system had only been in function for four years when they left it. They did not have patience. If they had exhausted all the options then they would have got more support in the beginning of the People's War. I don't say that People's War was not needed, But all the options should have been exhausted. It might be that People's War was necessary. There was a bit of suppression in 1994-95, but just after suppression began, they went to war. But I do agree that the ten years of war became the determining factor for the holding of the Constituent Assembly elections.
JPA: It looks like the Madeshi People's Forum (MJF) is doing well in areas in the south east. What is your opinion of this organization? Will it play a positive role in developing the class struggle in Nepal?
Shyam: MJF is the result of the weaknesses in the interim constitution and the peace accord. The grievances of the Madhesi were not well addressed in these two documents. Madhesi people rose against this. Their demand was a federal state and proportional representation of the Madhesi people in the state structure and the CA. If that provision had been there in the interim constitution and the peace accord then the uprising had not occurred. If the Maoists [who had raised the same demands] had been firmer on these questions during negotiations then it would not have occurred. And I believe that it was possible for them to be more firm back then in November 2006. It was a Maoist mistake and they lost popular support in Madhesh because of this. After two months of uprisings the parties had to accept the demands. So in my analysis the success of the MJF is the result of the mistake of the Maoists.
We must be clear that the demands of MJF were just. But the leadership of MJF is the Madhesi elite. They are upper class, and this is a contradiction. The leadership demanded a federal state. But now they are demanding the opposite, that the whole Terai should be one province. That means a centralized and unitary governance in the Terai. And the leadership was also against the proportional representation system. They were also against a more inclusive candidate system. The MJF were against including the lower Madhesi. So this is a contradiction now. The sentiment of the ordinary people is one thing, but the elite will not be helpful in making a radical land reform for example.
JPA: To conclude: Why did we get this election result?
Shyam: In my view there are two major and two minor reasons:
People wanted the peace process to succeed and not be broken. If the Maoists had become small they would have been compelled to go to war again. So most of the peace loving people of Nepal voted for the Maoists. People of all classes voted for Maoists for this reason.
People want change. Social, political and economic transformation. They saw that this was not possible through the other parties that had already been tested. The conservative parties had already been tested. They wanted something new. They saw that the agenda for a democratic republic was the agenda of the Maoists. The CA demand was also Maoist and socioeconomic transformation was brought forward by the Maoists. Therefore they have probably considered that this could only be possible through the Maoist leadership. So in order to get change they favour Maoist leadership.
The two minor reasons are:
The candidates filed by other parties were old people. And old people that had ruled Nepal for many years. People wanted new faces, because people were frustrated with the old leadership. The candidates of the NC and UML were more than two thirds old people, over forty. Of the Maoist candidates 52% were under forty. Most of the youth voted for Maoists. 52% of the voters are young.
The oppressed people of the lower classes were tired of the upper class status quo corrupt government. They are not heard in society, but through this vote they spoke.
These four factors joined together gave an amazing result!
Election
results are still trickling in from Nepal, due to poor roads, and a
complicated electoral system, but as its stands the former guerillas
of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), have already won 116 seats of
the 216 directly elected districts where counting has been completed.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s Nepali Congress was trailing
with only 32 seats, while the Communist Party of Nepal (United
Marxist-Leninist) had 30.
Final results for the 601-seat Constituent Assembly, which will govern Nepal and rewrite the country’s constitution, are still a few weeks off, but confounding earlier predictions, the former Maoist guerillas look like they will be able to form a government.
As Achim Vanaik explains in New Left Review
“Starting from the early 1990s the Maoists had embarked, against all received wisdom, on a strategy of underground armed struggle which, within a decade, propelled it to the very forefront of Nepali politics. Militarily, it had fought to a stalemate—at the very least—the Royal Nepal Army. Politically, it had redefined the national agenda with its central demand for an elected Constituent Assembly, to draw up a constitution that would in turn ensure the formation of a new kind of Nepali state—republican, democratic, egalitarian, federal and secular.”
On 23 December 2007, Nepal’s interim parliament codified the abolition of the centuries-old Nepali monarchy and its replacement by a democratic federal republic. A remarkable achievement for the Maoists.
Nepal is a deeply divided country. The ruling class is drawn from the Newars, the indigenous elite of the hill region (5 per cent of the population, mainly based in Kathmandu) and from upper-caste Bahuns (Brahmins) and Chettris (Kshyatriyas), populations produced by the immigration to the region of Hindus from the south many centuries ago. The indigenous peoples, known as Janajatis, comprise just under half the population, and live mostly in the hills but also in the Tarai, and speak Tibeto-Burman languages.
Nepal still has a rigid caste system, and the janajatis are in the ‘middle’, below the Bahuns (12 per cent) and Chettris (19 per cent), and above the Dalits (‘untouchables’). After the 1999 elections, the literate Bahun/Chettri/Newar category occupied 75 per cent of all cabinet posts and 61 per cent of all parliamentary seats. There was virtually no representation for Dalits (13 per cent) or Muslims (4 per cent). The Bahun/Chettri/Newar also hold 90 per cent of all positions in the civil services.
Landholding patterns remain unequal: the richest 5 per cent of households own nearly 37 per cent of land, while some 47 per cent of landowning households own around 15 per cent of land, with an average size of 0.5 hectares.
The current political era really starts in 1990, after a massive pro-democracy movement was met by massacres in the streets by the Royal Nepalese Army, and in the ensuing destabilization, the King agreed to constitutional reform, and elections, but the three cornerstones of the state, Nepali linguistic dominance, the monarchy and state Hinduism remained. The difficult mix of poverty, caste and ethnic discrimination and feudal patterns of land ownership were quite impossible to solve within the framework of the monarchy.
As Achim Vanaik recounts, in the ensuing elections in 1991, The Maoists used the platform of the elections to expose the inability of parliamentary politics to resolve the basic problems of land reform, Dalit and gender discrimination and oppressed nationalities; they called for a new ‘democratic revolution’, based on the dictatorship of the proletariat and peasantry, to do this. They won 9 seats (on 4 per cent of the vote), thus emerging as the third party in Parliament. But the group—which would change its name to cpn-Maoist in 1995—was already making political and organizational preparations, internally and externally, for a turn towards protracted people’s war, formally announced on 13 February 1996. The armed struggle started in the traditional Communist/Maoist strongholds of the Mid- and Far-West. The Maoists began by attacking local banks, burning loan papers to indebted farmers, stealing money, attacking police stations, accumulating small arms and making cross-border black market purchases of more sophisticated weaponry; later, they would assault Royal Nepal Army district headquarters and acquire machine guns and rocket-launchers. By 2000, they were emerging as a force at national level.
In November 2001, the King called a state of emergency. The USA provided $12 million for arms purchases. In the course of the civil war that followed, the Royal Nepal Army quadrupled in size, to over 90,000 troops, and spread to areas of the country where it had never ventured before. An estimated 13,000 have died in the civil war, of which 7,000 to 8,000 were probably civilian third parties. Though most of these deaths were caused by the Royal Nepal Army, the Maoists were far from blameless.
Despite this, by the beginning of 2005 the Maoists had spread to all but two of the country’s seventy-five districts, and claimed to control 80 per cent of the countryside.
In the regions they controlled, the Maoists set up base areas and people’s committees at the levels of ward, village, district and sub-region, and carried out local development work and social programmes of inter-caste marriage, widow remarriage and temperance campaigns, with varying degrees of effectiveness. From 2003 the Maoists moved into the Tarai border regions, where they spread like wildfire, since they more than any other political force had long articulated the demand for equality of ‘nationalities’ such as the Madhesis.
In 2005 the Maoists agreed to disarm, and enter the political process again. The party leader, Prachanda, gave two reasons for not seeking to seize state power militarily in 2005, when it seemed within their grasp, but instead turning to negotiate a permanent peace settlement, involving a long-term strategic alliance with the mainstream parties to fight for a democratic republic.
First, given the international balance of forces, the Maoist leadership believed that, while they might capture state power, they would not be able to retain it.
Second, by abandoning the path of armed struggle for peaceful mass mobilization they hoped to achieve a new legitimacy, domestically and internationally, that would afford them greater protection in the long run.
This caused considerable debate in the CPN(M), which had already had a serious crisis previously over whether to overthrow the monarchy (the position which prevailed), or use the King as a national patriotic figurehead. The party has decided that the new government is transitional and its success will be gauged by the extent to which the key tasks of overcoming class oppression (above all, the question of land reform), eliminating caste and gender oppression, and resolving the ‘nationalities’ question (federal restructuring of the state) are actually carried out.
There have certainly been problems with the transition. The Maoists’ Young Communist League, revived in late 2006, have found it hard to break from the military mindset, and have acted as intimidating thugs, and have extorted money to pay for the election. On 26 November 2007 in the Kathmandu Post, Prachanda had to give a public assurance that the YCL would change its behaviour and shed its negative image.
The unexpected electoral success of the Maoists may stem from them having full credit in the public mind for establishing a republic, and their whole hearted commitment to overcoming gender, caste and ethnic discrimination. It will be interesting to see what happens, as the party have come to power through democratic elections, and have a commitment to broad alliances with other parties and class forces. Yet nevertheless, they have a generally positive assessment of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and a commitment to deepening and extending social change.
Worth reading the 2006 BBC interview with Prachanda
18 April 2008
http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/747/38623
The
Nepalese left has stunned the world yet again. The Communist Party of
Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), a US-designated “terrorist” outfit, won a
landslide victory in April 9 general elections.
The Maoists, however, are set to propose to implement republic through the first meeting of Constituent Assembly on May 28.
“Implementing republic is the major issue of today. And our proposal has stressed this issue,” said senior Maoist leader Dr Baburam Bhattarai.
He termed the demands for amendment of constitution and sharing of power as against the spirit of peace accord and interim constitution.
“We will strictly adhere to the letter and spirit of the interim constitution,” Dr Bhattarai said. “It is meaningless to quarrel over the issue of power sharing.”
Earlier today, Maoist leaders in a meeting had assured leaders of Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to come up with a clear package proposal on Monday. The meeting of three largest parties had ended inconclusively as the Maoists didn’t submit a concrete proposal for formation of a new government.
A Maoist source said it will propose its chairman Prachanda as the next Prime Minister, who will exercise the authority of head of state as well.
On the issue of sharing power among major political parties, the Maoist proposal is open for ministerial portfolios only.
The source said Maoists are not ready to share the posts of President, deputy president, Prime Minister and Chairperson of the CA, as demanded by other political parties.
The Maoists will also propose three alternatives for government formation: firstly, a coalition government under the Maoist leadership; or a single-party government of Maoists; and if both options fail, they have proposed to stay away from the government.
“We are not desperate to go to government,” Dr Bhattarai who said. “The Maoist will choose to stay as opposition party if other political parties put conditions before the formation of the next government.”
Earlier today, the Maoists, during Sunday’s meeting with NC and UML pledged to present a proposal in writing on four issues — implementation of republic, grounds of government formation, scope and areas of constitutional amendment, and confidence-building measures.
From Monthly Review Zine http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/yami140408.html
by Johan Petter Andresen
The elections in Nepal on Thursday, April 10th, resulted in a victory for the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), stunning the mainstream international press.
Hisila Yami was elected to the forthcoming Constituent Assembly from the constituency Kathmandu 3 -- "Asaan," the crowded ancient center of the city -- with 12,276 votes, as against 8,815 for her nearest competitor, Rajendra Prasad Shrestha of the "center left" Communist Party of Nepal (UML).
During the People's War (1996-2006) led by the CPN(Maoist), Hisila Yami was underground, taking the nom de guerre "Comrade Parvati." She wrote two articles in Monthly Review, "Women's Leadership and the Revolution in Nepal" and "People's Power in Nepal."
Sunday, April 13th, 2008.
JPA: What are the results after only a few days of counting up the votes?
HY: We have won 42, the CPN(UML) have only won 13 and the Nepali Congress have won 12 seats in the first past the post contest. We will get more in the proportional election.
As of the end of the day on Monday, April 14th, winners have been declared in 184 of the 240 "first past the post" constituencies. Of these the Maoists have won 105, the Nepal Congress 30, the UML 24, and the Madhesi Forum 16. The final results for the 335 proportional representation seats will not be known for several weeks, but it is now certain that in the forthcoming Constituent Assembly the Maoists will at minimum be the dominant bloc, with as many seats as the next three largest parties combined. -- Ed.
JPA: Why such great support?
HY: Because of the struggle that the Maoists have led. People are very conscious here in Nepal and they understood what was right.
JPA: It seems that this election has been a step forward for women?
HY: Amongst the Maoists the women performed very well. Women's power was phenomenal both in participation and in terms of winning seats. This also goes for the dalits and the minorities.
JPA: What do you think is the biggest challenge right now?
HY: The biggest challenge is to be prepared for how the biggest countries will react to the new reality where the Maoists are the leading party. Nationally the biggest challenge is the economic agenda. There has up until now been a big challenge because of the contradiction between the policies that have been decided on and the leadership for implementing these policies. There has been obstruction from the other side. After the results of the elections we can bargain for more seats in the government and we will be in a better position to implement our policies.
JPA: Is your organizational strength big enough to cope?
HY: We have enough organizational strength. We have observed during the peace process that we have equal organizational strength with the government organs.
JPA: Did the elections go as you had predicted?
HY: We were expecting that there was going to be heavy interference from national and international reaction. We were very scared that they were rigging the referendum. I think we had a good campaign. We sent a message to the masses about unity among all the parties, especially with the left. And when the CPN(UML) decided not to have an alliance with any parties it disappointed us. But at the same time it exposed them. We told our cadres to unite with the parties that are against the king. When the CPN(UML) at the last minute before the election, approached us in distress with suggestions we rejected them. I think that we had a good concrete analysis of the situation.
JPA: You did well in your constituency?
HY: My constituency was a CPN(UML) bastion and a very popular candidate from CPN(UML) was my main opponent. It was therefore an important victory to come in first.
JPA: How will the feudal class react?
HY: They rely on foreign forces. They are waiting for some signal. But we have been gradually reducing their power. They are now quite weakened.
JPA: Will it take many years to implement a land reform?
HY: I think we can have a land reform pretty soon. We have a commission already, so we can now push forward.
Johan Petter Andresen is a Norwegian friend of MRZine now in Nepal