Nepal News & Discussion

[Bodhi]

Looks like we now have another hostile state in the making at the borders as the Maoists are leading in Nepal. almost certainly Congress looks to be losing. This is surely a surprise.

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoist rebels took a surprising early lead on Saturday in an election aimed at cementing a peace deal that ended a decade-long civil war.

Of seven results declared till Saturday morning the Maoists won five seats. They were leading in more than half of 102 constituencies where counting was on, election officials said.

The final result of the polls, Nepal's first in nine years, could take around 10 days.

A running tally of votes showed Maoist chief Prachanda and other senior Maoist leaders were ahead of their rivals. Some prominent leaders from other political parties were trailing.

"They have surprised themselves," an Asian diplomat said of the Maoists, whose victories so far have come from areas not known to be their stronghold.

"Even they had not expected this and every one thought that Maoists will be third. Nobody understands," he said.

"They have very intelligently chosen their candidates from different marginalized and ethnic groups."

Trends of results from the country's southern plains, home to nearly half of Nepal's total population, have yet to come. The Maoists are thought to be weak here.

Maoists say people had voted for a change and for a "new vision."

Some of their political rivals agreed.

"I think people want to give the Maoists a chance and test," Bhagwan Karki, a Communist UML party worker, said.

"Maoists spring a surprise, take initial lead," said a banner headline in the Himalayan Times.

Nepal went to the polls on Thursday to choose a 601-member special assembly tasked with mapping the impoverished nation's political future and formally ending the 240-year-old monarchy.

The elections were the main demand of the Maoists during their deadly civil war, which killed more than 13,000 people.

In 2006, they signed a peace deal with the government and entered electoral politics.

Analysts and diplomats said it is still too early to say if the Maoists will clinch a majority.

(Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Bill Tarrant)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080412/wl_nm/..._elections_dc_1
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Maoists expect clear majority
NC worried; unexpected for UML

BY THIRA L BHUSAL

KATHMANDU, April 12 - Two of the major ruling parties, Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, have expressed their worry over the trend shown by early results for the constituent assembly (CA) polls received as of Friday night, whereas another major ruling party, Maoist, is upbeat and claiming it will obtain a clear majority.
Maoist second-in-command Dr Baburam Bhattarai said the trend clearly indicated that the Maoists will be the largest party, with a clear majority, something that they had already sensed.

“People were longing for new thinking and new leadership and they wanted the Maoists for the implementation,” he said, adding that the people’s verdict has shown this.

He claimed that attempts were made from “other quarters” to deceive the people by trying to establish that the agenda of federal republic and constituent assembly was that of the other parties as well. “However, the people did not believe this and they wanted Maoist leadership for the implementation, which in fact is the need of the hour,” he added.

Bhattarai claimed that the preliminary results are just an indication of a nationwide wave in favor of the Maoists and of the people’s mood.

However, from the UML’s point of view the result was unexpected mainly in terms of the outcome in Kathmandu Valley and some other places. “The preliminary results in Kathmandu and some other places are not as per our expectations and do not reflect our strength at the grassroots,” said senior UML leader Amrit Kumar Bohara, adding, “However, we are not perturbed by this.”

He was of the view that no one should be discouraged or become overly excited just by some changes in the results. It happens to parties that face the people in periodic polls, he said.

“The most significant message of the people is that they are in favor of transformation and a republic and against of any form of violence,” he said, pointing out the positive message of the election so far.

However, he claimed that the Maoists had created circumstances under which people were psychologically as well as physically forced to vote Maoist. Threats from Maoist leaders to capture power within minutes and intimidation to people at the grassroots by their local cadres were some of the reasons, according to him. 

Bohara claimed that though the election seemed on the surface to be held in a peaceful manner, people were consistently under psychological terror. “This trend remains a serious challenge for the future,” he said.  Likewise, Dr Ram Baran Yadav, general secretary of the Nepali Congress (NC), stated that early poll results have the democratic forces worried.

“If we look at the trend of the initial reports, it shows we failed to inform the people what the CA poll was really for,” Yadav said. “We are worried that the people’s desire for lasting peace through an end to the culture of violence will receive a setback if the democratic forces fail to win an influential position in the constituent assembly,” he added.

http://www.ekantipur.com/
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->