- Title: NEPAL: Maoist cadres enforce an indefinite strike paralyzing Kathmandu
- Date: 3rd May 2010
- Summary: KATHMANDU, NEPAL (MAY 1, 2010) (REUTERS) MAOIST CADRES AND SUPPORTERS AT MAY DAY RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (Nepali) MAOIST LEADER AND FORMER PRIME MINISTER PRACHANDA SAYING: "This is not a change brought by dirty politics of the parliamentary system, it is the outcome of people's bloodshed; it won't be left unheeded" EXTERIOR OF OFFICIAL RESIDENCE OF PRIME MINISTER MADHAV NEPA
- Embargoed: 18th May 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nepal
- Country: Nepal
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAXCXMS392AC5ENNF74RQGSJZR
- Story Text: Nepal's former Maoists guerrillas started a indefinite strike on Sunday (May 2) which paralyzed the country after talks with the ruling coalition failed and Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal refused to quit.
Shops were shuttered and thousands of Maoist cadres roamed the streets of the capital enforcing the strike to drive home their demand for a new government.
The Maoists headed a coalition in 2008 after a surprise win in the election for a constituent assembly, a body tasked to prepare a new constitution. This was part of a peace deal to do away with the monarchy and end a decade-long civil war which killed more than 13,000 people.
But they walked out after the president refused to endorse their dismissal of Nepal's army chief, plunging the nation into turmoil and delaying attempts to draft a new constitution.
The deadline for the new constitution is May 28, but the strike may prevent the drafting, and the former guerrilas are demanding they be put back at the head of a new cabinet.
"This is not a change brought by dirty politics of the parliamentary system, it is the outcome of people's bloodshed, it won't be left unheeded," the Maoist leader told his supporters at a rally on Saturday (May 1), saying that Nepal's People's Liberation Army 10-year war against the government from 1996, was not a waste.
Prime Minister Nepal said later on Saturday he and his government had been wrongly accused of failing to draft the new constitution.
"We have been accused of playing a conspiratory role in the creation of the constitution by the the main opposition party rather than helping and participating in a creative way," said Nepal, refusing to resign and calling for more dialog with the Maoists.
On the streets, people were stuck without transportation as vehicle drivers were on strike.
The roads were filled with Maoist cadres protesting -- or in some places, dancing to ensure the observance of the strike, which analysts say could worsen a political crisis and endanger a 2006 peace deal which ended a decade-long civil war.
"At this stage, as the country is going through a critical stage, this movement is for civilian supremacy, constitution, peace, security and national sovereignty. What the Maoist party has called is, I am sure, an improvement in life for Nepalese people," said activist Khangra Shrestha.
"We the people, who are on the streets and who are coming to the streets are fully certain that our demands of peace, constitutional and a national concensus government will be achieved," added another activist Tilak Joshi.
The special assembly is unlikely to meet its deadline of drafting a new constitution by May 28, and the deadline cannot be extended without the support of the Maoists, who hold about 40 percent of the assembly's 601 seats.
If the deadline is not met, parliament would be dissolved and the government would lose its validity, leading to President's Rule and the declaration of a state of emergency. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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