Nepal's Parliament Votes For Polls, New Constitution

Bloomberg

May 1, 2006

May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Nepal's Parliament voted to hold elections for a new assembly that will draft a constitution to reduce the power of the monarchy in the Himalayan nation.

Lawmakers yesterday approved a proposal for elections made by Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepalnews.com reported. Parliament is holding its first session in four years after King Gyanendra, facing mass demonstrations and a general strike, met opposition demands for the assembly to be reinstated.

Koirala, who was sworn in yesterday as prime minister, used his address to parliament to call on rebels to end their 10-year insurgency and ``come to the peace dialogue at the earliest,'' Nepalnews.com said.

Nepal's seven-party opposition alliance organized protests after King Gyanendra took over running the country when he fired the government in February 2005 for failing to end the insurgency. The opposition and the rebels reached an agreement in November to elect a new assembly to change the constitution.

Pro-monarchy parties such as the Rastriya Prajatantra Party joined the opposition alliance in supporting the plan for new elections, Nepalnews.com said.

``The desire of Nepali people is peace and the democratic atmosphere is all about an environment whereby people can live fearlessly,'' Koirala said in his address. ``The process for this has already begun.''

Cease-Fire Declared

The rebel Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) last week declared a three-month cease-fire after ending a blockade of the capital, Kathmandu, imposed to support the general strike.

The truce is to help the ``people's struggle'' for a new assembly to be elected to revise the constitution, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the rebel leader known as Prachanda, said in a statement, Nepalnews.com reported at the time.

Peace talks with the rebels should now be the priority of the government, Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxists Leninist) told Parliament yesterday, according to Nepalnews.com.

The U.S. government, in a statement last week supporting Nepal's new government, said the constituent assembly is an opportunity for the rebels to join the political process.

``But to participate in any elections, the insurgents must lay down their arms and renounce violence,'' the U.S. government said. ``The people of Nepal deserve nothing less.''

Municipal Workers

Opposition activists yesterday prevented some municipal officials, elected in local polls in February, from working, Nepalnews.com reported. The opposition alliance boycotted the Feb. 8 elections as part of its protests against emergency rule and said it may press for the reinstatement of officials chosen at previous elections, the report said.

Lawmakers also want the government to compensate the families of 14 people killed when security forces fired on protesters during the rallies across the country last month.

Koirala appealed to the international community to support his government's efforts to find a peace settlement and to rebuild aid programs.

The World Food Program last week said road blocks imposed during the general strike prevented food supplies reaching about half a million children and vulnerable communities.

The United Nations has called on rebels to release abducted civilians and allow political parties to operate without intimidation. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said last week the government should join the cease-fire declared by the rebels.

Nepal's economy, which depends on tourism for foreign exchange, has been damaged by the strike and the insurgency. Agriculture accounts for 40 percent of gross domestic product and provides a livelihood for 80 percent of Nepal's population of 27 million. An estimated 40 percent of Nepalese live below the poverty line.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net