- Title: NEPAL: Nationwide strike against municipal elections and King Gyanendra
- Date: 26th January 2006
- Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) JAIPRAKASH SHAH, A BUSINESSMAN FROM BIRGANJ TOWN, SAYING: "The King and the political leaders are fighting while the public is suffering"
- Embargoed: 10th February 2006 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Nepal
- Country: Nepal
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAALLO10KYRT9PNE5GET51P776E
- Story Text: Riot police guarded key government buildings and patrolled deserted streets across Nepal as a nationwide strike began on Thursday (January 26) against municipal elections and King Gyanendra. The dawn-to-dusk closure across the restive Himalayan kingdom was called by the country's main political parties, which organised fierce, often violent, street protests to press the monarch to restore multi-party democracy. Thursday's strike coincided with the day when contestants for February 8 elections for 58 municipal councils were expected to file nomination papers. Prachanda Shreshtha, a member of the pro-king 'Save the Nation' party, was among a few candidates who filed their nominations at the heavily-guarded city hall in Kathmandu. "If someone kills me right here, there is not much I can do about it, and if someone kills me tomorrow, there is nothing I can do. Life is like that - every morning the sun rises and the struggle for life begins --- one has to live and fight," said Shreshtha. Residents in Nepalgunj in west Nepal, the tourist town of Pokhara and the business centre of Biratnagar, said businesses, schools and colleges were shut and streets deserted. There were no reports of violence. Hundreds of activists have been detained and dozens injured over the past several days as police used batons and fired teargas shells to break up anti-king rallies. The government has ordered businesses and transport operators to ignore the strike, saying it would pay compensation if they are attacked. But residents were not convinced. Jaiprakash Shah, a businessman from Birganj, said both politics and the strikes were hurting business. "The king and the political leaders are fighting while the public is suffering," he said. In the past, activists have stoned cars or smashed shops which remained open. The parties are boycotting the civic elections, which they say are aimed at legitimising the regime of the king, who is under growing pressure to delay the vote and open dialogue with them and Maoist rebels. But the royalist government has vowed to hold the elections, saying it has "broken the spine" of the Maoists who also oppose the vote. On Sunday, suspected guerrillas shot dead a politician who had pledged to contest the elections. The Maoists have called for a week-long general strike from Feb 5 to disrupt the polls. King Gyanendra says he was forced to take power to crush the anti-monarchy insurgency in which more than 12,500 people have died since 1996.
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