Upcoming Events

International | Anti-Capitalism

no events match your query!

New Events

International

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Anti-Empire

Anti-Empire

offsite link North Korea Increases Aid to Russia, Mos... Tue Nov 19, 2024 12:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Trump Assembles a War Cabinet Sat Nov 16, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link Slavgrinder Ramps Up Into Overdrive Tue Nov 12, 2024 10:29 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link ?Existential? Culling to Continue on Com... Mon Nov 11, 2024 10:28 | Marko Marjanovi?

offsite link US to Deploy Military Contractors to Ukr... Sun Nov 10, 2024 02:37 | Field Empty

Anti-Empire >>

The Saker
A bird's eye view of the vineyard

offsite link Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
Alternative site: https://thesaker.si/saker-a... Site was created using the downloads provided Regards Herb

offsite link The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
Dear friends As I have previously announced, we are now “freezing” the blog.? We are also making archives of the blog available for free download in various formats (see below).?

offsite link What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
by Mr. Allen for the Saker blog Over the last few years, we hear leaders from both Russia and China pronouncing that they have formed a relationship where there are

offsite link Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
2023/02/27 19:00:02Welcome to the ‘Moveable Feast Cafe’. The ‘Moveable Feast’ is an open thread where readers can post wide ranging observations, articles, rants, off topic and have animate discussions of

offsite link The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Pepe Escobar for the Saker blog A powerful feeling rhythms your skin and drums up your soul as you?re immersed in a long walk under persistent snow flurries, pinpointed by

The Saker >>

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Maoist Popularity Wanes in Nepal Election

category international | anti-capitalism | news report author Tuesday December 03, 2013 11:20author by Niharika Mandhana and Krishna Pokharel Report this post to the editors

Results for Nepal's national elections show its Maoist party has plummeted in popularity, coming in a distant third and suggesting the former rebels' influence has diminished in the South Asian nation.
1parachandastalinmao.jpg

The centrist Nepali Congress, one of the country's oldest political parties, won 2.4 million proportional votes, followed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), which won 2.2 million votes, the Election Commission said Thursday.

The main Maoist party, Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), won 1.4 million votes. Exactly how the proportional vote, in which voters pick parties rather than candidates, will translate into seats in the new constituent assembly was expected to be announced by Sunday.

Thursday's count mirrored the results earlier this week of the direct voting, in which voters choose candidates rather than parties, announced earlier in the week. The candidates for the Maoist party—led by the revolutionary leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal —secured only 26 of the 240 seats.

The results raised hopes that a national constitution could be drafted as the two leading parties should be able to find common ground on many contentious issues such as federalism.

The results were also a painful defeat for the Maoists, who in 2008 emerged as the single largest party, sparking hope of political stability and inclusive governance with the end of a 10-year civil war. But soon after the monarchy was abolished and Nepal was declared a secular republic, the assembly became paralyzed as partisan squabbling sidelined economic development.

Whichever parties lead the country will still have to struggle to accommodate the views of the influential extreme left and a resurgent right-wing party.

"If they try to bulldoze with their points of view, the others may threaten to pull out of the democratic process," said Nischal Pandey, the director of the Center for South Asian Studies in Katmandu.

"Despite the numbers, they will have to figure out how they will take everyone along."

Minendra Rijal, a senior leader of the Nepali Congress, said his party intends to form a "consensus government" by accommodating the views of all major parties as it writes a new constitution.

"But consensus should not be understood as meaning that a party with 14% of votes can impose its will on others with 85% votes," he said.

Last week, as early results showed the Maoists were trailing, the party alleged fraud and threatened to boycott the new assembly. Nepal's election commission has declined repeated requests by the Maoists for a probe into their allegations.

On Thursday, the Maoists said they wouldn't participate in the new assembly unless their demand for an independent probe was met. They also demanded an amendment to the 2007 interim constitution requiring a consensus vote to pass a new constitution rather than a two-thirds majority.

Accommodating these two demands are "basic and minimum for us to enter into the Constituent Assembly," said Agni Sapkota, a leader of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

Nepal suffers crippling power cuts and its economy has failed to create jobs for its youth, a large number of who work overseas.

"The Maoists were the largest party and were seen as catalysts for change," Mr. Pandey said. "The gross political instability and their inability to move forward on any major issues caused huge frustrations."

123maocommunistpartychinacpp.jpg

© 2001-2024 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy