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Nepal's Maoists Begin Nationwide General Strike

   Steve Herman | Kathmandu 02 May 2010
   A Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) supporter dances during an
   indefinite  nationwide  general strike by Maoist in Kathmandu on 2 May
   2010

Photo: AFP

   A Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) supporter dances during an
   indefinite  nationwide  general strike by Maoist in Kathmandu on 2 May
   2010

   For the second consecutive day, tens of thousands of Maoists and their
   supporters  are  on  the  streets  of  Nepal's capital, Kathmandu. The
   former  rebels  are  also  enforcing a crippling nationwide indefinite
   strike meant to pressure the current government to resign.

   Nepal's  former  rebels are again applying their time-tested tactic of
   bringing civil life to a standstill to press their demands.
   After  Prime  Minister  Madhav  Kumar Nepal refused to resign Saturday
   evening, the Maoists went ahead with a threatened national strike.
   The  previous  prime  minister,  Pushpa  Kamal  Dahal, better known as
   Prachanda,  chairman  of  Nepal's Maoists, says the former rebels were
   left with no choice but to press ahead with civil disobedience.

   Former  PM  of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Maoist Party
   chairman Prachanda, addresses a May Day rally in Kathmandu

VOA Photo S. Herman

   Former  PM  of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known as Maoist Party
   chairman Prachanda, addresses a May Day rally in Kathmandu

   "I  hope  that  within  a  couple  of days we'll be able to break this
   stagnation,"   said   Prachanda.   "We'll  be  able  to  come  to  an
   understanding  because  our movement is completely peaceful and in the
   democratic  norms  and  with  the  huge participation of the masses of
   peoples...  Our  minimum  demand is having a national unity government
   and a peace and constitution."
   As prime minister last year, Prachanda pulled the Maoists, who won the
   2008  election,  out  of  the  government. That was because of a power
   struggle  involving  leadership  of  the army and how to integrate the
   former Maoist guerrillas into the military.
   Nepali  Congress  Party  general  secretary  Bimalendra Nidhi says the
   political  mainstream  would  find  it unacceptable to let the Maoists
   return to power unless they dissolve the Peoples Liberation Army under
   terms of the 2006 peace accord.
   "[If]  they  want to lead the government, they must be a civil party,"
   said  Nidhi.  "And with all these combatants, with all these weapons,
   it  is  not  very much a comfortable situation to accept for any other
   political party."
   Nearly  20,000  Maoist fighters, and their weapons, remain quarantined
   in camps under United Nations supervision.
   The  former guerrillas are supposed to be integrated into the Nepalese
   Army  by  May  28,  which  is  also  the  deadline  for drafting a new
   constitution.
   Neither seems likely to be accomplished within the next four weeks.
   Unless  the  major  political  parties agree to extend the deadline or
   call  for  new  elections,  Nepal  would  be plunged into an even more
   uncertain  future  with  some analysts warning of the possibility of a
   return to civil war.

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