Nepalese Maoists reject King's offer

[Brownfist]

Well Severian you were right and I was wrong. I should not have trusted the 7 parties and was caught up in the euphoria of the friday rejection. The parties have claimed that they are following the road map set by the 12 pt. agreement, the Maoists disagree. The 7 party alliance is broken, it is unclear whether the 7 parties are making the error or the Maoists. Looking at the CPN(Maoist) leadership's statement I have a feeling that the 7 party alliance has made the mistake. I too expected the 7 parties to reject the offer but I was wrong. FUCK!

Maoists disagree with Royal Proclamation, demand unconditional constituent assembly elections.
Kantipur Report

KATHMANDU, April 25 - The Maoists disagreed with the Monday’s Royal Proclamation of reinstating the parliament and called for further protests demanding unconditional constituent assembly election Tuesday afternoon.

In a statement signed by Maoist supremo Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai, the Maoists have blamed the seven parties of committing a ‘historic mistake’ of taking a one-way decision to accept the reinstatement of the house.

“The parties which have accepted the ‘royal proclamation’ have acknowledged the King’s traditional and autocratic act of using the royal power of reinstating the house on one hand and on the other hand breached the spirit of the 12-point agreement by not consulting with the Maoists about systematic procedures,” the statement said.

The Maoists have also announced a protest programme that includes nationwide demonstrations and showdowns, people’s action against suppression of their programmes and blockade of district headquarters including the capital until the announcement of unconditional election to the constituent assembly.

[Tekun]

Its a good thing that they're rejecting that idiot's proposal, after all he's just giving himself time to assess the situation and calm the escalating movement
Once its chill, he'll go back to his old ways

The Maoists should continue to call for protests and demonstrations thoughout Nepal
Only an unconditional forfeiture by the king and the complete restoration of the democratic process should be accepted

However, they should continue to meet and try to sway the stance of the political parties regarding this ridiculous offer
It would prove detrimental to cut all ties with the Nepalese political parties

[Brownfist]

I totally agree with you Tekun. I think that the King has allowed for this so that he can reconsolidate his power and curtail the powers of government as has been allowed by the currently existing constitution. This attitude of the 7 party alliance is reminiscent of their optimism until 2002. It seems that they have not learnt, and they still remain the bourgeois counterrevolutionary parties they always were. The Maoists now need to mobilize the masses.

[Eoin Dubh]

The Maoists should continue to call for protests and demonstrations thoughout Nepal
Is that feasible?
The Maoist stronghold is in the west of Nepal , no? How much of the country is under their control?
I read in the paper the other day that The Maoists are armed mostly with Bolt action Lee Enfield 303.'s, some of which are from before WW1 !
Considering they started off with sharpened sticks and some muskets, a 303. is pretty good. But even if it has 10 rounds per reload it is a very slow weapon by today's standards and LOUD as hell, plus those things get super hot and I heard it is difficult for the shooter to sustain prolonged fire.
If Chinese made Ak-74's can be smuggled into N America, why aren't they popping up in next-door Nepal?
(I really hope it is not due to $$$ or the lack thereof)

[Cheung Mo]

I think the parties have to really be on their toes here: This is marginally better than the 1990 result, but it's nowhere near to being good enough.

[ComradeOm]

Yet more proof, as if any was needed, that the global bourgeoisie has ceased to be revolutionary.

[poetofrageX]

I'm pretty sure the Maoists controll most of the rural ares in Nepal, which means they'll still be able to effectively blockade the capital city, and other roads. They really dont need the 7 parties to continue the struggle on a national level.

and Eoin, i think we all know by now that China has no intention of supporting any kind of socialist revolution anymore. They'd prolly stay out of it all together, because a socialist government in Nepal would hurt any trade they have going with the King, and helping the King fight against Maoists would make it impossible for the current Chinese government to contunue to claim to be Maoists.

[Janus]

I'm sure the Maoists are quite upset over this as their main demand is for the ejection of the king. However in a recent interview, Prachanda did say that he would theoretically accept the king if it came to that.

Anyways, the 7 party alliance has called off the strikes and has chosen a new prime minister. But the blockade continues and we'll see if the Maoists try to call for strikes on their own.

[Cheung Mo]

China is more concerned with playing nice with the American political elite and the global neo-liberal elite than it is with accomplishing anything that is remotely socialist or humanitarian. (Duh.)

[Severian]

Originally posted by [email protected] 25 2006, 03:51 PM
I'm pretty sure the Maoists controll most of the rural ares in Nepal, which means they'll still be able to effectively blockade the capital city, and other roads. They really dont need the 7 parties to continue the struggle on a national level.
They've called off their blockade - already. In response to a request from the new prime minister, Koirala. That was a rapid reversal. The CPN(Maoist) also declared a 3-month cessation of offensive operations BBC (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4949066.stm). The parties forming the new government have been proposing a cease-fire from their side also. Hopefully that'll hold for a while at least.

The CPN(Maoist) has no way forward - and knows it. That's the key to everything they've done for months, including concluding the agreement with the 7-party alliance in the first place. Nothing they've done makes sense - except for that reality.

And now, with the restoration of parliamentary democracy, they have to fear their semi-alliance with the 7 parties will break up. At any rate, it won't be a stepping stone for them to take power, if they hoped for that.

***
The 7-party alliance is calling for a mass meeting on Thursday, and the CPN(Maoist) another on Friday. It'll be interesting to compare the turnouts. I'm betting the 7-party alliance's will be significantly larger. The question is, how much voluntary support does the CPN(Maoist) have; can they politically lead as well as militarily coerce.

So far, the popular reaction to the agreement seems to be mostly to regard it as a victory - for example (http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=270086&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/) - but one that has to be safeguarded, with the king strongly distrusted and the parliamentary party leaders somewhat distrusted. On the day of the part of the crowd ("tens of thousands" out of "hundreds of thousands" by one account) - moved to the palace vicinity and called for the king to leave the country.

Those tens of thousands could partly be regarded as a measure of CPN(Maoist) support, since that party made a call for continued protest; but it would be hard to estimate how much of that was spontaneous anger.

***

Another significant development (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4946748.stm) - "Nepalese soldiers have shot dead six people and wounded at least 11 after a crowd protested outside an army base.

Reports said around 2,000 people in Belbari in south-eastern Nepal had been protesting at the death of a woman allegedly raped and shot by soldiers. "

The success of the urban strikes and demonstrations maybe gave confidence to these peasants? 'Cause abusive treatment by the army ain't new, but AFAIK this kind of protest is.

There's simply less political space for independent mass action in the countryside, for toilers caught between the brutality of the Royal Nepalese Army and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist.) As those 6 dead peasant protesters could testify.