Elections in Nepal

On Wednesday, February 8, Nepal will hold its first municipal elections in seven years. As mentioned in this post, violence in Nepal has been steady leading up to these elections. However, the Maoists are calling for a boycott of the elections.

Maoist leader Prachanda, whose call for a week-long general strike has ground Nepal to a virtual halt, again urged voters not to take part in controversial polls called by the king, as fresh violence left eight people dead.

"Our party would like to make a final and special appeal to the general public ... to boycott (Wednesday's) municipal polls and take the movement for democracy and peace to a new height," Prachanda said in an emailed statement on Tuesday.

"The success of our general strike has made it clear that the public opinion is against the municipal polls slated for tomorrow," the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) chairman said.

Home Minister Kamal Thapa urged citizens to vote.
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The Maoists, fighting for the past decade to overthrow the monarchy, have stepped up violence in a bid to derail the polls that the rebels and opposition parties say are a sham aimed at perpetuating Gyanendra's control of the tiny nation of 26 million people.

Gyanendra seized power just over a year ago in what he said was a bid to quell the Maoist insurgency. But the takeover has been condemned by the Maoists and mainstream parties who have formed a loose pro-democracy alliance.

However, Prachanda has said the Maoists might accept a monarchy if the people want it, indicating there is room somewhere for dialogue.

A senior leader of Nepal's Maoists says the rebels will accept the monarchy if the country's people were in favour of retaining it.

In an interview with the Nepal's Kantipur newspaper, rebel leader Prachanda also renewed an offer of dialogue with the government.

The offer came even as seven soldiers and police died in eastern Nepal in a suspected rebel attack.

The rebels have ordered a shutdown to disrupt local elections due this week.

In the newspaper interview, the rebel leader said his group is ready for discussions on all issues including elections for a constituent assembly to draw up a new constitution.

"We will accept it if the constitution assembly says we want monarchy," the Associated Press quotes him as saying.

"We will accept it even if the people say we want an active monarchy," Prachanda said.

The government is prepared to shoot anyone trying to disrupt the elections.

Troops in Nepal have been given orders to shoot anyone who tries to disrupt municipal elections after overnight attacks by communist rebels left seven police officers and soldiers dead, officials said Tuesday.
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Tuesday's attacks on the outskirts of Katmandu came hours before the Maoist rebels' elusive leader said in an interview he could accept a constitutional monarchy and suggested he was willing to consider a cease-fire.

But the government ordered the troops to shoot anyone who tries to disrupt Wednesday's municipal elections.

"They have been instructed to use ultimate force if there are any attempts to disrupt the polls or harm the voters," Home Minister Kamal Thapa said. In the capital, soldiers patrolled on foot and in armored vehicles.

Nepal's royal government said the local elections are a step toward democracy, but a broad coalition of political parties oppose the vote, calling it a ploy to legitimize the king's rule, and dozens of politicians and activists have been detained ahead of the elections.

The Maoists have threatened anyone who takes part, and candidates have registered in less than half of the more than 4,000 races for mayors and local officials. Two candidates have been killed.