Things Go Wrong For Nepal Maoists
By Nava Thakuria
28 July,
2008
Countercurrents.org
The rebellion communists of Nepal, though they won a war against the monarch, have lost an important battle of ballots in the Constituent Assembly. Loosing the ballot race for the 'Head of the State' and his subordinate, the rebellion communists hided their faces for few moments. A last minute emergence of a three party alliance, opposing them, even compelled the rebellion communist leader Prachanda to rethink about his next step. Prachanda, who led a bloody revolution demanding the removal of the Hindu monarchy in Nepal and later projected as the Prime Minister of the federal democratic republic at Kathmandu, finally faced the real heat of democracy.
His way to the head of the government office was lined up after the April 10 general election (to form the Constituent Assembly), where his party (the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist) scored highest number of seats (220). They were followed by the Nepali Congress (110 members) and Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist (103 members), the second and third largest political parties respectively in the Himalayan nation.
Excited with the people's verdict, the Maoists initially went on demanding both the posts of President and Prime Minister for their leaders. But soon they faced the heat of democracy, when the other political parties rejected their demand outright. The Maoists then left their claim for the post of President but stuck to the post of an executive Prime Minister (which was reserved for Prachanda).
Then came the Nepali Congress (110 members), which projected its leader Girija Prasad Koirala as their candidate for the first President of Nepal. But the Maoist supremo Prachanda rejected the proposal, because he feared that a senior politician like Koirala as President would definitely invite trouble for him (as Prime Minister). He, however, described Koirala as a statesman and a national figure of Nepal, but wanted him to keep away from any heavy responsibility because of his age (over 80) and fragile health.
Koirala was also put under tremendous pressure by the Maoists to resign as acting Prime Minister. After his resignation, Koirala was waiting for an elected President who would replace the King as the ceremonial head of the state and accept his resignation letter. The Nepal Constituent Assembly on May 23 abolished monarchy and declared the country as a democratic republic. Soon after being dethroned, King Gyanendra was even asked to leave the Narayanhiti Palace, a royal and sacred place for the Nepalis.
The presidential and vice-presidential race in the Constituent Assembly has, however, changed the ambience totally. In fact, the changing situation paved the way for an alliance of three political parties opposing the Maoists. During the July 19 polls in the Assembly, the Maoists faced the first defeat when their candidate Shanta Shrestha lost to Paramananda Jha, a Madhesi Janadhikar Forum (Madhesi People's Rights Forum) candidate for the post of Vice-President. Jha, 73, bagged 305 votes in the 601-member Constituent Assembly to get elected for the ceremonial post.
The polls for President could not be completed on Saturday as no one gained the required minimum number (301) of votes. The final round of the polls held on July 21, where Ram Baran Yadav, 61, was declared elected as the first President of Nepal. Yadav, also a Madhesi (who are culturally and linguistically closer to India) candidate won the support from 308 members in the Assembly. With the support from the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist, the medical practitioner turned politician, defeated the Maoists backed candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh, 74 convincingly.
Facing the critical situation, the Maoists decided not to form the government and rather preferred to sit in the opposition. Prachanda disclosed their decision on July 22 that they would 'not go to form the government.' Earlier he termed the alliance (Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist and Madhesi People's Rights Forum) as 'unholy'.
Lately Prachanda had offered a way out to go for the exercise of government formation and put three conditions in front of the other political parties. First, he wanted the unholy alliance (of three parties) to be disbanded. Secondly, the Maoists' agenda should get priority in preparing a common minimum programme for the government. Thirdly, they demanded a written commitment from other parties that their government would continue at least for two years.
But the other parties rejected the Maoists' conditions stating those as childish, funny and absurd. The party leaders categorically rebuffed the Maoists' demand to dissolve the alliance. They made it clear that the three parties went for the alliance only to oppose the dictatorial attitude of the CPN-M leaders, who initially did not want to listen to any other party leaders. Moreover, they commented that the tendency of the Maoists to put conditions to lead the government as unexpected and deplorable.
Criticizing the attitude of the Maoists, The Rising Nepal, a Kathmandu based English daily also made a statement in its editorial column that the CPN-M continued changing their political friends for their selfish interest. The strategy of the Maoists was to weaken and condemn the parties by pitting one force against the other and right from the time it joined the peace process, they were applying this tactic, discussed in the article. It also added that the fundamental job of the political parties, government and the Constituent Assembly was to write a new constitution, for which a two-third majority of the Constituent Assembly is required and that is not possible unless the three main political forces (CPN-M, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML) work together.
"Since the CPN-Maoist is the largest political party in the country, the responsibility of taking all the political forces, in general, and the major parties, in particular, into confidence and also taking the lead role in the political and constitution writing process lies with it. But this has not happened, which is a big weakness of the Maoists. The parties now must rise above their partisan interests and give more priority to broader national interest," it concluded.
