Vol. 72/No. 19      May 12, 2008

The results register the unpopularity of a monarchy that has ruled Nepal since independence. While the CPN(M) won 120 of 240 directly elected seats, the Nepali Congress Party won only 34, and the Stalinist UML, 31. The latter two parties have shared a government with King Gyanendra.

The elections were mapped out as part of a 2006 peace deal in which the CPN(M) abandoned a decade-long guerrilla struggle in exchange for cabinet posts. The CPN(M) campaigned for establishing a republic, parliamentary rule, and capitalist development.

“We are fighting feudalism, we are not fighting against capitalism,” CPN(M) leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Prachanda, told the New York Times before election day. “In this phase of our socioeconomic development, it is not possible to have a socialist revolution … We will create a conducive atmosphere to have more profit for the capitalist.”

Nepal, straddling the mountainous Himalayan region between China and India, is marked by semifeudal relations in the countryside. Agriculture accounts for 79 percent of employment, with industry largely limited to small-scale processing of jute and oilseed. Eighteen million of its 28 million inhabitants do not have access to electricity.

An April 14 article in the Economist reports that villagers in the Kaski region in central Nepal said they voted for the CPN(M) because they thought the Maoists would bring electricity and equality.

The party began a guerrilla war against the monarchy in 1996. Over the next decade they built up a force of some 15,000 fighters and took control of large areas of the countryside. Attempting to turn the military situation around, King Gyanendra dissolved parliament in 2002. Three years later he declared a state of emergency. In 2006, 100,000 people marched in Kathmandu in opposition to these dictatorial measures, forcing Gyanendra to restore parliament.

As its name indicates, the party identifies with the policies of Mao Zedong, the deceased leader of the Chinese Communist Party. As the CPN(M) took control of sections of the countryside, their policies included forced collectivization of peasants.

They also weld anti-working-class moral strictures to the probusiness policies. Prachanda has advocated banning alcohol, gambling, and “vulgar” literature from India and the United States. Last year CPN(M) cadre in Kathmandu warned homeowners not to rent rooms to gays and lesbians, claiming homosexuality is “a by-product of capitalism.”  
 
Ruling class accepts results
The election result has prompted positive responses from ruling-class figures in Nepal. The BBC noted on April 16 that a “senior army figure, Brig. Gen. Shiva Ram Pradhan, has expressed the willingness of the military to work with the new government.” It added, “The chairman of the country’s chamber of commerce has praised Maoist leaders for their promise to listen to the private sector when working out economic policy.”

Reaction from the imperialist powers that have historically dominated Nepal was low-key. Both British and U.S. government officials hailed the elections for being peaceful. The CPN(M) is in talks with U.S. officials to lift Washington’s “terrorist” designation of the organization.  
 
 
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