MAO ZEDONG IS ALIVE AND KICKING IN NEPAL

By Kunda Dixit Reprint | | Print |

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KATHMANDU, Apr 15 2008 (IPS) - Mao Zedong is dead in China, but the Great Helmsman is alive and kicking in Nepal. What’s more, the Himalayan Maoists have come to power not with the barrel of the gun but has been voted to government, writes Kunda Dixit, editor of the Nepali Times newspaper in Kathmandu. When they form the government, possibly with the participation of other parties, the Maoists face immediately the challenge of delivering on their promise of raising living standards. More immediately, they will have to deal with the soaring cost of food. Petroleum prices need to be increased, but the government can’t afford subsidies and will not want to antagonise voters right away. The Maoists will want to push through some showcase legislation to prove to the electorate that they are serious about reform. They will want to get started on the controversial process of integrating their army with the national army. The two fought a bruising war, and there is a lot of resistance within the Nepal Army to combining the two forces. The Maoist leadership will have to balance pressure from their former guerrillas with the reluctance to not open up too many fronts right away.

Nepal’s leftist guerrillas fought a brutal ten-year war from 1996-2006 to try to overthrow the monarchy. They agreed to a ceasefire two years ago and since then had been preparing carefully for elections that were held on 10 April. Results so far show that the Maoists were more successful than even they had ever imagined.

The lesson from Nepal for revolutionaries around the world is this: what the Maoists could not accomplish with ten years of war and 15,000 killed they achieved through a non-violent electoral process.

The rest of the world has found it bizarre that Nepalis should vote so overwhelmingly for an ideology that has been discredited everywhere, and even abandoned in the land of Mao’s birth. But the victory didn’t mean that Nepal’s 17.6 million eligible voters were all Maoists, or wanted a People’s Republic.

Most people voted for the Maoists because they wanted change, they were sick and tired of the incompetence of the other democratic parties. Nepal’s mostly-impoverished people voted for a force that they thought was the most capable of lifting living standards, giving them affordable health care and education, roads and jobs. They also voted the Maoists to government so they wouldn’t go back to the jungles, rewarding them for laying down their arms.

In his victory speech this week, Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who goes by the nom de guerre ‘Prachanda’, sounded magnanimous and conciliatory. Heavily garlanded and face painted red with vermilion, he said his party’s victory reflected the overwhelming desire of Nepalis for peace and development. He reiterated his party’s commitment to multiparty democracy and asked the international community not to be suspicious of Maoist intentions.

The speech did go some way to allay doubts about the Maoists have really made the complete transition from an armed guerrilla force to a mainstream party. However, Prachanda did not formally renounce violence, something the international community wants him to do.

The fact that Maoist cadre beat up Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat two days later after he won the election from his constituency doesn’t bode well for their image. It proved to many who always had misgivings about Maoist intentions that the party still adheres to the tactics of violence and intimidation.

When they form the government, possibly with the participation of other parties, the Maoists face immediately the challenge of delivering on their promise of raising living standards. More immediately, they will have to deal with the soaring cost of food. Petroleum prices need to be increased, but the government can’t afford subsidies and will not want to antagonise voters right away.

This was not a general election, but one that voted for a 601-member assembly that will draft the next constitution. Despite their win, the Maoists are unlikely to attain a two-thirds majority that would allow them to go it alone. The drafting process for the new constitution, which is expected to take two years, will therefore necessarily have to be through compromise and consultation.

The constituent assembly will also serve as a parallel parliament for the new two years, and will oversee a government lead by the Maoists. The first order of business will be to formally abolish the monarchy, and this is supposed to happen soon after the assembly convenes next month.

The Maoists will then want to push through some showcase legislation to prove to the electorate that they are serious about reform. They will want to get started on the controversial process of integrating their army with the national army. The two fought a bruising war, and there is a lot of resistance within the Nepal Army to combining the two forces. The Maoist leadership will have to balance pressure from their former guerrillas with the reluctance to not open up too many fronts right away.

Then there are the longer-term issues that the constituent assembly will have to deliberate on: what kind of federalism the country should have, whether to have a Westminster style system or a bicameral one, how to reconcile the competing demands for representation from Nepal’s 103 ethnic groups.

This state restructuring process is not going to be easy because it is happening in Asia’s poorest country, where people’s expectations are very high. And if people don’t see an immediate improvement in their lives, the election victory for the Maoists could easily turn sour.

But the past two years have shown that the Nepalis value political freedom and democracy and know that they command their own destiny. The Maoists have been given their chance to prove themselves. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)