April 13, 2008
Landslide Victory Beckons Maoists,
End of Road for Koirala By Sudeshna
Sarkar
Kathmandu
As Nepal Sunday celebrated the dawn of its new year, a change in the
leadership of the former Himalayan kingdom was in the offing with
its former Maoist guerrillas, once hiding in jungles and hunted down
by the army, poised for a landslide victory after a crucial election
last week.
An agriculture graduate who left his job as a school teacher in a
village and groomed an army of revolutionaries with the dream of
ousting the monarchy and establishing equality, Pushpa Kamal Dahal,
who changed his name to Prachanda - meaning awesome - was on the
verge of seeing his dream come true with his Maoist party sweeping
42 of the 71 seats declared so far and leading in 57 of the 109
constituencies, where vote counting was in progress.
The stunning victory of a once underground party mocked as
terrorists even during the poll campaign and blamed for derailing
the election last year also signalled the end of the road for Prime
Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who despite his advanced age and
chronic ill health was hoping to lead the government yet again.
It also predicted the end for King Gyanendra, who jeopardised his
forefather's throne by trying to step out of constitutional monarchy
and revive absolute reign.
The Maoists, who fought a national election after 17 long years,
owed their overwhelming victory to the nation's yearning for a
change in leadership after a succession of corrupt and uncaring
governments whose leaders were seen as greedy and squabbling for
power.
The emergence of the youth voter, who accounted for nearly 35
percent of the electorate, and an overwhelming participation by
women, who accounted for 53 percent of voters, propelled the rebel
victory.
It was a convincing triumph with the capital, the heartland of
Nepal's aristocracy, who supported royalty, and the intelligentsia
voting against the communists who swept Kathmandu valley in the 1999
general election.
Of the three districts in the valley, the Maoists captured all three
seats in the temple town of Lalitpur, while in the capital city
Prachanda himself led the onslaught with the conquest of four of the
10 seats.
The public disenchantment with Koirala's government was evident.
While all the Maoist ministers won, ministers from Koirala's Nepali
Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist
Leninist (UML) were humbled by first-time Maoist contestants.
Though the NC prevailed in the remaining six seats in the capital,
its stalwarts were biting the dust nationwide.
Koirala's home district Morang was swamped by a Maoist wave while
his daughter Sujata, minister without portfolio in the prime
minister's office, was a poor third in her Sunsari constituency in
the volatile Terai plains.
Koirala's cousin Sushil Koirala, who was also deputy chief of the
party, resigned after being ousted in Banke district by the Maoists
while his nephew Shekhar Koirala, regarded as a key figure during
the peace negotiations with the Maoists, was trailing far behind in
Morang.
Another Koirala lieutenant, finance minister Ram Sharan Mahat, had
lost in Nuwakot to his Maoist contestant from the Tamang community,
one of the most disadvantaged classes in Nepal and the worst victims
of human trafficking.
The win of maverick NC contender Narhari Acharya from Kathmandu was
actually a dressing-down for Koirala. In the past, Acharya had
opposed Koirala's bid to grab party leadership in violation of the
party regulation.
It was also a moment of grim reckoning for the UML, who paid dearly
for its weathercock politics, siding now with the king and now with
the Maoists.
UML chief Madhav Kumar Nepal was forced to resign after being
thrashed in Kathmandu by a littleknown Maoist rival, Jhakku Prasad
Subedi. Nepal was also trailing in his second constituency Rautahat
in the plains, the scene of one of the worst ethnic violence last
year.
The only ruling party giants who made it were deposed prime minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba, though his dream of being premier again was
receding fast, Speaker Subhash Chandra Nembang of the UML, and Peace
and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra Poudel of the NC.
The constituent assembly election, the first ever in Nepal, saw the
emergence of women and the disadvantaged communities, under the
aegis of the Maoists.
Prachanda, who won with a thumping majority from Kathmandu in his
poll debut and had far outpaced rivals in remote Rolpa district,
struck the right note Saturday when in his victory speech, he
proposed reconciliation.
"I would like to allay the international community's fear as to what
will happen after a Maoist victory.
"We pledge to work with all the parties, besides the ruling ones and
the new ones to write a new constitution," the rebel chief said.
Prachanda pledged to retain the ruling coalition till the new
constitution was written and urged the bureaucracy and security
forces, once the Maoists' bête noir, to work together for the
creation of a new Nepal.
However, he was inexorable about the demolition of Nepal's
239-year-old Shah dynasty of kings.
"We will work for a federal democratic republic to build a strong
foundation for peace," he said.
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