Apparently, this hydra continues to sprout new heads. Was it not Mao who said: "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun"?
And it is rather telling that the secular media's reporting on this event assumes that the Maoists will rule in a peaceful and democratic manner.
As an Asian, I say: do not underestimate this development. Hardline communism continues to flourish in the most unlikely places. Sometimes it even flourishes inside "Catholic" communities addicted to liberation theology.
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By Somini Sengupta
Published: April 14, 2008
Published: April 14, 2008
KATMANDU, Nepal: Barely two years out of the jungle, former Maoist guerrillas were poised on Monday to lead Nepal's new government, as initial election results signaled that voters had chosen to remove most of their veteran politicians from office and seek a radical break with the past.
Of the 178 directly elected seats for which results had been tallied, the Maoists had picked up 101 in the voting on Thursday, the Election Commission announced, according to Reuters. Far behind were the Nepali Congress, with 30 seats, and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), or UML, with 24.
In addition to a total of 240 directly elected seats in the new, 601-member Constituent Assembly, there are 335 indirectly elected seats, designed to give women and marginalized castes and ethnic groups a greater voice in the government. The other 26 seats are appointive.
The partial results of last week's voting point toward a Maoist landslide, which would defy predictions, though the final tally, which could take weeks, could tilt the election differently, or at least reduce the Maoists' margin significantly.
The results will bear mightily on Nepal's future: The new assembly will rewrite the country's constitution and govern the country while it is doing so.
Under Nepal's unusual election laws, Prachanda, the Maoist leader, was allowed to run in two election districts, both of which he won. Madhav Kumar Nepal, the leader of the other leftist party, UML, lost both his races and resigned as party president.
Another party new to electoral politics, an ethnic Madhesi party from the southern plains, which also emerged from armed rebellion demanding greater autonomy, picked up 15 seats.
Prachanda pledged on Sunday to work with the other parties. It is not clear whether winning control of the government would embolden his party to push its most radical demands, like integrating its former fighters into the security forces, or whether the task of governance, in which the Maoists have little experience, would make them "sober up," in the words of a diplomat.
Assessing the early results of the election, a newspaper columnist, C. K. Lal, said: "The Nepali people are saying they are fed up with the way things are going. The good part would be if the Maoists can use their majority to usher in changes through consensus. The bad part would be if Maoists thought they could go the way they wish because they have a majority."
Tempering their original revolutionary stridency, the Maoists, as politicians, have said in recent months that they have no intention of hindering private investment or nationalizing property. Their principal goal has been to oust the 240-year-old Hindu monarchy.
It is unknown to what extent voters chose the Maoists out of genuine conviction, intimidation or a sense that former guerrillas are safer in Parliament than outside.
In any event, the victors in these elections, particularly if they are the new faces of the Maoists will inherit large expectations, particularly in a young, desperately poor country that had not had elections in nine years. Energy will be among the first challenges: The Katmandu valley suffers from up to eight hours of electricity cuts a day.
"For the Maoists it will be an awful lot of pressure to govern," said another diplomat who, under normal diplomatic protocol, could not publicly comment on an election. "There will be pressure to deliver, be relatively pro-poor and deliver a peace dividend to the countryside. That is pretty hard in Nepal."
AsiaNews. It reports on this development here:
04/14/2008 15:44
NEPAL‘Maoist Republic’ on its way
by Kalpit Parajuli
The Elections Commission confirms Maoist party’s landslide victory. Its leaders call upon the international community to trust them as they get ready to abolish the monarchy.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Against all expectations the Communist Party Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) is heading for a landslide win and will likely to lead the country’s first republican government. CPN-M leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal (see photo), known under his nom de guerre Prachanda (the terrible), said that Nepal was ready to be a “Maoist Republic.”
So far the Elections Commission has announced that the Maoists have won 61 seats out of the 108 already decided, but the counting process in other polling stations indicates a similar trend in favour of the ‘Reds’.
Given the situation Prachanda acknowledged that the “international community may have some doubts about us. But we are committed to competitive politics and will maintain cordial relations with all, especially with our close neighbours China and India”.
Baburam Bhattarai, the CMN-M second-in-command, added that “[e]verybody must accept that we, being the largest political party, have the right to lead the government.” He also said his party won because it “targeted the underprivileged, marginalised section of society, including women. We empowered those groups of society and were successful to secure such results.” For him the first item on the new government’s agenda will be the monarchy.
The Crown’s hold on the country began collapsing in 1996 when its corruption and wealth in one of the poorest countries in Asia sparked the Communist rebellion in which some 13,000 people died over ten years.
In 2001 then King Birendra and the members of his immediate family were slaughtered in the Royal Palace at the hands of his son, who then committed suicide.
His successor Gyanendra (whom some believe inspired the massacre) intensified efforts to gain absolute power. He succeed in 2005, only to lose it a year later as a result of street protests, which forced him to negotiate with the Maoists.
With the new government his role will be eliminated and the 238-year-old monarchy will come to an end.
