Nepal on edge ahead of polls

National elections – already twice delayed – are scheduled for April. The interim government voted to abolish the monarchy, meeting a key demand of former Maoist rebels.

from the January 16, 2008 edition

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In Kathmandu, some Nepalis said they were happy King Gyanendra would soon be jobless. "The king must go," says Ram Hath Ram, who sells roasted peanuts near the palace. "I want freedom from that monarchy."

But Krishna Khadgi, a bicycle rickshaw rider, says he is proud when he pedals passengers past the high walls that hide the palace complex. "Kings are good," he says, "politicians bad. Things should stay as they are."

Disenchantment with the king began in 2001, when crown prince Dipendra shot dead 10 members of the royal family, including his parents, before killing himself. His uncle Gyanendra inherited the crown.

In 2005, as the Maoists stepped up their brutal insurgency, the king – a constitutional monarch with mainly ceremonial powers – dismissed parliament and grabbed absolute power. The insurgency grew more violent; the economy faltered. By the time parliament was restored in 2006, the king, say analysts, was finished.

Politically, he is supported by the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP-Nepal). On Jan. 7, the small party organized a brief rally of a few hundred in a public park.

Ahead of the election, uncertainty surrounds the commitment of some parties to democracy. The Nepali Congress Party, which leads the interim government, is in no hurry to give up its power, argue some analysts. And it is widely believed that the Maoists pulled out of the political process last year over fear of a poor showing at the polls. Few pollsters expect the Maoists to emerge as one of the bigger parties.

Baburam Bhatturai, the Maoist's deputy leader, swears his party is committed to elections this time. "There is no question of us not going for elections," said the bookish-looking Marxist in an interview in his heavily guarded house in Kathmandu.

He added that the government still had commitments to honor before elections – chief among them the rehabilitation of some 31,000 Maoist ex-combatants confined to camps since 2006.

Ian Martin, the head of the United Nations mission in Nepal, warns that work must begin on this issue before elections. "The democratization of the Army and the integration of the Maoist combatants are crucial issues at the heart of the peace process," he says.

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