This is an archive of the former website of the Maoist Internationalist Movement, which was run by the now defunct Maoist Internationalist Party - Amerika. The MIM now consists of many independent cells, many of which have their own indendendent organs both online and off. MIM(Prisons) serves these documents as a service to and reference for the anti-imperialist movement worldwide.
Maoist Internationalist Movement

Prospects for elections in Nepal November 22?

Two of the three major political parties of Nepal do not sound convinced a Constituent Assembly election will happen as scheduled November 22. The third major party is asking the ruling party to take responsibility.

In Nepal, 58% of the population is aged 24 or less.(1) That makes a 25-year-old middle-aged, someone of experience needed by others. In the next 15 years, the young adults bulge will actually increase in Nepal. It would not be surprising to find out that the eight parties also breakdown along age lines with some having lower average age supporters than others.

Government officials have begun a fearful exodus from the Terai, which has become the centre of new violence since January, with over 100 people having been killed. . . .

Besides three factions of former Maoists, nearly 10 more armed groups have stepped up extortion, abduction and killings in the plains, ahead of a crucial election in November.

All the rebel groups, who want an autonomous state in the plains for plains people, have warned they would not allow the election to be held.

The unrest in the Terai forced the government to postpone the elections from June and send an SOS to the Indian government for assistance.(2)

MIM has already taken the position that this level of unrest is not a reason to sully the national pride of Nepal as supposedly incapable of Constituent Assembly elections. It sounds like a plot by elites clamoring for more power. It's a dangerous plot because it involves a continuing build up of international public opinion of Nepal as unstable.

The Congress party is taking what sounds like the official U.$. line: "'Anarchic activities can sabotage the CA elections. Therefore, first of all, we ourselves must be disciplined,' Shahi quoted Koirala as saying in the meeting."(3) Prime Minister Koirala's party talks about an election in an "intimidation-free environment," a formula ready-made to blame so-called "terrorists" instead of monarchists if the elections fail.

In terms of finding forces to run the elections, a vacuum exists because the old monarchist army should not run the election.(4) If the Kantipuronline.com is accurate, the Prachandaists forming one of the three major parties do not believe that an election can be administered in the Terai region. Prachanda offered his party's youth services to run the election, but two parties disagreed with that despite a supposed common platform. In other words, the eight bourgeois parties in Nepal have a common anti-monarchist platform supposedly, but they do not have a concrete plan to bring off the election.

Kantipur described the Prachandaist position this way: "'We must declare the country a republic now and hold the polls,' said Badal.

"He also alleged that vague stance of Nepali Congress on monarchy poses a major hurdle to a republican set up in the country."(5)

It is difficult to understand the U.$. position. If the November 22 elections come off as planned then this article will be moot. If on the other hand, there is unhappiness with the elections on November 23, then we have already heard the u.$. position to blame the "terrorists."

At the same time, because the U.$. position refused the declaration of a republic, on November 23, the "terrorists" will point to other parties as upholding the monarchy by opposing the elections. To obtain an unconfused rejection of "terrorism" would require that the monarchy question be out of the way; yet, curiously the U.$. imperialists do not seek this answer for the November 22 election. That's not to mention that Koirala's Liberals will get the blame for a failed election, because they hold the leading posts in the interim government.

In our terminology, aspects of the Nepali Congress Party position amount to "ultra-leftism." By targeting the question of anarchic youth activities before the monarchy is done with, the Nepali Congress Party gets ahead of what is possible in Nepal.

The inability of the eight parties to unite on a republic also points to a long-term historical division in Nepal's future, where some parties will be able to point to others as less anti-monarchist. While the agitation in the Terai is going on, such a division would seem inappropriate.

MIM finds itself baffled. If the U.$. imperialists want to blame "terrorists" this November, then there needs to be a clear political setup where that is possible. It appears that parties such as Masal and UML have their gripes with the Prachandaists and others, but the U.$. will not be able to highlight those gripes if the king is still a factor November 23.

Nepal is like a gigantic public university age-wise. To hope that it is going to calm down to U.$. levels is silly, an ideological pipe-dream. The U.$. imperialists need only look at statistics on the youth of the united $tates to find that even in a rich country, their propensity for so-called disturbances is much higher than in older age groups. The United $tates should take that into account and come back in 25 or 30 years to talk to middle-aged people in Nepal. In the meantime, haste toward a republic and an anti-monarchist civil force is the best way to satisfy Nepal's youthful aspirations.

Notes:
1. http://www.mediaforfreedom.com/ReadArticle.asp?ArticleID=2271 2. http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=38f72ad1-850e-4bab-935a-b2b8c595ad6c&MatchID1=4500&TeamID1=2&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1122&PrimaryID=4500&Headline=Terai+rebels+abduct+official%2c+kill+ex-worker 3. http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=116164 4. http://telegraphnepal.com/news_det.php?news_id=1571 5. http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=116276