Nepal´s Maoists seek an all party democratic government
Surya B. Prasai
April 21, 2008
Despite the CPN-Maoists´ near victory in the CA Poll conducted on April 10, the final results still need to be validated officially by the Nepal Election Commission. Hopefully this will happen within the next two days although the chances of forming a Prachanda-led government within the immediate period of two weeks announced earlier, might not materialize unless there is more frank response from the other political parties. So far, the Maoists have not been able to garner firm commitment from NC, UML and MJF, the other three leading factions though with smaller number of votes. Political discussions are still on-going to woo different political camps´ leaders for an all party democratic government. Cabinet positions are definitely being discussed internally but again the contentious issue is who is going to handle key ministries? Hopefully by next week Prachanda will be able to form a new Nepal Government. This is the impression some of the top Maoist leaders have given after returning from a public felicitation program for Prachanda at Kirtipur on Saturday.
Some of the delays in forming a new government are attributed to unforeseen reasons. One, Babu Ram is personally looking after the ´palace affairs´ at the moment, studying various issues in guaranteeing a fair and honorable treatment to the King with allowances, cultural political, religious and other rights as a Nepali citizen. Prachanda has indicated his desire to resolve this issue by meeting the King directly through Kamal Thapa, Chairman of the Rastriya Prajantantra Party, though the meeting has not materialized so far. Maoist leaders have also been ´busy´ in various post-election rallies, receptions and other ceremonies which has diverted their attention on many issues. Two, taking oath as Constituent Assembly members itself is fraught with some hitches, it appears. It seems, no one had thought about promulgating oath taking laws for the new CA members in the old interim parliament. House Speaker Subhas Nembwang has promised to look into the issue and come up with the necessary language by the time the Constituent Assembly is ready to meet in about a month´s time.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Nepal, Nancy J. Powell has indicated Washington´s possible lifting of the terrorist tag on the CPN-M in her routine call on Mr. Nembwang at the Nepali Speakers´ office in Kathmandu yesterday. Washington appears set to review current US assistance to Nepal taking into consideration the fresh and positive political developments. But it must first announce that the Maoist party´s name have been erased from the US State Department´s global terrorist list. Powell had earlier assured continued US cooperation and support to the new democratically elected Nepal government once the CA Poll results were in. Coinciding with the US´s diplomatic overture, the Chinese and German governments have also wholeheartedly welcomed the new democratic gains and congratulated the Nepali people and the winning parties on the successful completion of the democratic CA Poll. Their ambassadors have assured Nepali leaders of maintaining continued warm and friendly diplomatic relations between their countries and Nepal and promising further development assistance.
However, on the domestic political front, one important question still remains: will Prachanda become the next President or Prime Minister, or else choose the title Chairman, like late Chairman Mao? No one is sure, since different Maoist leaders seem to be giving alternate opinions. It appears a President with a Prime Minister is still possible in the new system, which might hint at Maoist coalition building overtures than sticking to a rigmarole leftist political viewpoint. What about Prachanda staying in the Royal Palace? No, definitely not, asserts Babu Ram. He believes the Royal Palace should be strictly used for official functions and converted into a national museum instead. Yet the Maoists also believe they need a symbolic national figure who represents the wily character of Janga Bahadur Rana combined with the peaceful and patient Buddha type Who could this character be? This is what everyone seems to be taking a serious guess in these days in Kathmandu. No one except Prachanda seems to be knowing the answer to this puzzle either. However, a close Prachanda aide, Ananta, has recently indicated a flexible coalition approach from his party, whereby the Maoists could call for anyone and everyone´s participation in the future democratic government, so that all parties would abide by the past agreements and the Peace Accord and help erase political differences.
On national peace, the big question is, if UNMIN leaves after June 2008, until which it has an operational mandate, who will monitor the future successful conclusion of the current Peace Process? CP Gajurel who looks after the Maoists international relations bureau had recently indicated that UNMIN´s presence might not be required in future, but there is a certain powerful lobby among Western powers and within the UN Security Council that believes it will be required for another year or so, until Nepal has a truly democratic Constitution in place, which will in effect, signify the successful conclusion of the peace process. Pro and anti UNMIN lobbying is already taking place in various world capitals, before the UN Security Council actually gets a chance to meet and decide on its political future after June.
In their recent meeting with various ambassadors, including the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, the Maoists have repeated an earlier stance that they are now full fledged democrats willing to shed their past rigid ideological thinking and also willing to solidify ties with India and the US. The Maoists already have developed excellent ties with the EU and Nordic belt countries.
Therefore, Prime Minister Koirala has no better choice for the moment, but to continue at the helm of Nepali affairs, serving as Head of State and Government until all these doubts and uncertainties resolve themselves clearly. The ball is definitely in Prachanda´s court at the moment according to old seven party leaders. UML has shown little interest till now in being a member of a Maoist government, sticking to its original position that the Maoists rode on their ideological back but jumped off the shoulders when it was time to catch the prized banana.
With such divergent thinking, some definite conclusion must be reached soon to give the Nepali people a clearer sense of what the new Nepali political chakra will look like. The Nepali people when interviewed state they gave the Maoists the vote thinking they could better guarantee a full fledged democracy, better economic prosperity, public security and individual freedoms. Even Nepal´s stock market has been hitting some highs recently. Dr. Bhattarai from CPN-M believes, if the Maoists do not fulfill the Nepali people´s wishes in the near future, his party too will have to go the same way as its predecessors. Thus Prachanda and Babu Ram have had to be, necessarily, the two most cautious and diplomatic players in Nepali politics today.
Some of the delays in forming a new government are attributed to unforeseen reasons. One, Babu Ram is personally looking after the ´palace affairs´ at the moment, studying various issues in guaranteeing a fair and honorable treatment to the King with allowances, cultural political, religious and other rights as a Nepali citizen. Prachanda has indicated his desire to resolve this issue by meeting the King directly through Kamal Thapa, Chairman of the Rastriya Prajantantra Party, though the meeting has not materialized so far. Maoist leaders have also been ´busy´ in various post-election rallies, receptions and other ceremonies which has diverted their attention on many issues. Two, taking oath as Constituent Assembly members itself is fraught with some hitches, it appears. It seems, no one had thought about promulgating oath taking laws for the new CA members in the old interim parliament. House Speaker Subhas Nembwang has promised to look into the issue and come up with the necessary language by the time the Constituent Assembly is ready to meet in about a month´s time.
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to Nepal, Nancy J. Powell has indicated Washington´s possible lifting of the terrorist tag on the CPN-M in her routine call on Mr. Nembwang at the Nepali Speakers´ office in Kathmandu yesterday. Washington appears set to review current US assistance to Nepal taking into consideration the fresh and positive political developments. But it must first announce that the Maoist party´s name have been erased from the US State Department´s global terrorist list. Powell had earlier assured continued US cooperation and support to the new democratically elected Nepal government once the CA Poll results were in. Coinciding with the US´s diplomatic overture, the Chinese and German governments have also wholeheartedly welcomed the new democratic gains and congratulated the Nepali people and the winning parties on the successful completion of the democratic CA Poll. Their ambassadors have assured Nepali leaders of maintaining continued warm and friendly diplomatic relations between their countries and Nepal and promising further development assistance.
However, on the domestic political front, one important question still remains: will Prachanda become the next President or Prime Minister, or else choose the title Chairman, like late Chairman Mao? No one is sure, since different Maoist leaders seem to be giving alternate opinions. It appears a President with a Prime Minister is still possible in the new system, which might hint at Maoist coalition building overtures than sticking to a rigmarole leftist political viewpoint. What about Prachanda staying in the Royal Palace? No, definitely not, asserts Babu Ram. He believes the Royal Palace should be strictly used for official functions and converted into a national museum instead. Yet the Maoists also believe they need a symbolic national figure who represents the wily character of Janga Bahadur Rana combined with the peaceful and patient Buddha type Who could this character be? This is what everyone seems to be taking a serious guess in these days in Kathmandu. No one except Prachanda seems to be knowing the answer to this puzzle either. However, a close Prachanda aide, Ananta, has recently indicated a flexible coalition approach from his party, whereby the Maoists could call for anyone and everyone´s participation in the future democratic government, so that all parties would abide by the past agreements and the Peace Accord and help erase political differences.
On national peace, the big question is, if UNMIN leaves after June 2008, until which it has an operational mandate, who will monitor the future successful conclusion of the current Peace Process? CP Gajurel who looks after the Maoists international relations bureau had recently indicated that UNMIN´s presence might not be required in future, but there is a certain powerful lobby among Western powers and within the UN Security Council that believes it will be required for another year or so, until Nepal has a truly democratic Constitution in place, which will in effect, signify the successful conclusion of the peace process. Pro and anti UNMIN lobbying is already taking place in various world capitals, before the UN Security Council actually gets a chance to meet and decide on its political future after June.
In their recent meeting with various ambassadors, including the Indian Ambassador to Nepal, the Maoists have repeated an earlier stance that they are now full fledged democrats willing to shed their past rigid ideological thinking and also willing to solidify ties with India and the US. The Maoists already have developed excellent ties with the EU and Nordic belt countries.
Therefore, Prime Minister Koirala has no better choice for the moment, but to continue at the helm of Nepali affairs, serving as Head of State and Government until all these doubts and uncertainties resolve themselves clearly. The ball is definitely in Prachanda´s court at the moment according to old seven party leaders. UML has shown little interest till now in being a member of a Maoist government, sticking to its original position that the Maoists rode on their ideological back but jumped off the shoulders when it was time to catch the prized banana.
With such divergent thinking, some definite conclusion must be reached soon to give the Nepali people a clearer sense of what the new Nepali political chakra will look like. The Nepali people when interviewed state they gave the Maoists the vote thinking they could better guarantee a full fledged democracy, better economic prosperity, public security and individual freedoms. Even Nepal´s stock market has been hitting some highs recently. Dr. Bhattarai from CPN-M believes, if the Maoists do not fulfill the Nepali people´s wishes in the near future, his party too will have to go the same way as its predecessors. Thus Prachanda and Babu Ram have had to be, necessarily, the two most cautious and diplomatic players in Nepali politics today.