Mass street actions win gains

Nepal’s parliament—which was restored in April after massive street demonstrations and armed actions against the abso lute rule of King Gyanendra—has now issued a number of declarations that dramatically curtail the power of the monarchy.

The restored House issued arrest orders for five high-ranking cabinet officials who served under Gyanendra. The new coalition government also formally declared Nepal a secular state instead of a Hindu kingdom, stripped the monarchy of its control over the armed forces, removed all references to the monarchy from the army and government, made the royal family‘s assets subject to taxation, and eliminated the royal advisory council known as Raj Parishad.

Many legal experts in Nepal have predicted that these measures will ultimately face legal challenges by royalist elements who contend that they violate the current constitution.

Many of the pronouncements are similar to the principal demands made by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) when it led the Nepali masses to launch a popular revolution in 1996. While welcoming the parliamentary declaration as a partial step toward progress, the CPN(M) has made clear its intention to stand firm in the push to eliminate the monarchy completely.

CPN(M) leader Prachanda said that “this declaration has not been able to fully address the needs and aspirations of Nepal and the Nepali people.”

The CPN(M) and the coalition government have agreed to a mutual ceasefire between revolutionary and state forces in preparation for peace negotiations.

Prachanda, who will head negotiations for the CPN(M), has outlined his party’s core demands as a condition for a final peace settlement. The three primary demands are: unconditional elections to a constituent assembly with the power to rewrite the constitution and eliminate the monarchy, a federalist structure that empowers ethnic minorities with greater self-determination, and revolutionary land reform based on the principle of land to the tiller.

While it is likely that all three demands will be met with unease from different quarters of the ruling class, the third demand in particular is likely to meet stiff resistance from the bourgeois and reformist parties that make up the coalition government. Many of these parties represent large sections of the elite landowners and have little interest in any sort of meaningful reform that would threaten their economic interests.

The CPN(M) aims to use the process of negotiations to demonstrate that its program more fully represents the material needs and political aspirations of the downtrodden Nepali masses.

News sources for this article include the BBC, Nepal News & New York Times.