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CPN(M) election campaign

Tomorrow, Nepalis vote in elections for a constituent assembly which is meant to write a new constitution and serve as a parliament for the Himalayan country.
The assembly will decide the fate of the country's (almost powerless) monarchy.
The majority of the political parties - from the communist left, like the CPN(M), to the bourgeois right (Congress Party etc.) - will likely declare a (or better said: any) kind of "republic".

GEFONT's campaign poster for the CA election

But the gap between the different ideas of the coming "republic" couldn't be deeper: the CPN(M) prefere likely the "People's Republic", the CPN-UML ( together with GEFONT) a "Federal Democratic Republic" and the Congress Party wants just an "ordinary" parliamentarian democracy (i.e. a bourgeois republic). And unfortunately the developments before tomorrow's election day (just read the stuff below) have - possibly(??) - nothing to do with any kind of "democracy", ...not really.

Nepal police fire on activists   (al-Jazeera, 4.09)
 
Police have opened fire on protesters in western Nepal, killing at least one person, ahead of landmark elections to choose an assembly that will rewrite the constitution.

 
Protesters took to the street on Wednesday, angry at the slaying of a Maoist election candidate that has prompted authorities to postpone polling in the district.

 
Ram Kumar Khanal, an area police chief, said the police had opened fire with live ammunition in order to disperse protesters who were smashing stores and busses.

 
He said Wednesday's protesters were defying a curfew imposed in the area following the killing of the candidate. 
   
Call for calm

 
Prachanda, Nepal's Maoist leader, earlier called on his party activists to remain calm.

 
"The need of the hour is to show restraint and have a fair and free election," Prachanda said in a statement after meeting Girija Prasad Koirala, Nepal's prime minister.

 
The dead candidate was Rishi Prasad Sharma, a member of the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist Leninist, one of Nepal's top three political parties.
 

Election officials in Surket district, where Sharma was killed, subsequently postponed voting in Thursday's constitutional assembly elections.

 
A new polling date will be chosen in about a week for the constituency in Jahare Bazar town, Binod Kumar Pokhrel, an election official was reported by the Associated Press as saying.

 
Activists killed
 

In a separate incident on Tuesday, police shot dead six Maoist activists in Dang district, 300km west of Kathmandu, the capital, officials said.
 

Police shot the activists as they clashed with supporters of the Nepali Congress party, an official said on Wednesday.
 

"Six Maoists were killed and five injured after police intervened in clashes between cadres of the Nepali Congress and Maoist supporters," Mohan Sapkota said.

 
Officials imposed a curfew in Dang district after the deaths on Tuesday night.
 

Al Jazeera's Jane Dutton, reporting from Kathmandu, said the situation was tense across the country.

 
"There has been an escalation in violence prior to the elections," she said, adding that there had been at least four bomb explosions in the capital in recent days.
 

Dutton also reported there would be 136,000 police on the streets during the elections and that travel bans and a ban on the sale of alcohol would also be imposed.
 

Tamrat Samuel, a UN official overseeing the elections in Neapl, called the violence "unfortunate".

 
He told Al Jazeera: "These are unfortunate events that should not happen given the committments all the parties have given us. We have been in constant contact with the parties, all are committed to a free and fair election."
 

The United Nations peace mission in Nepal has appealed for an end to pre-election intimidation and violence, which it says could undermine the polls.

 
The elections, due on Thursday, are part of a peace process that brought Nepal's Maoists fighters into mainstream politics and ended a decade-long civil war in which at least 13,000 people have died.

 
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D2D40AF4-E6AC-4CC6-AFAE-CCF226B165B1.htm

Baburam threatens takeover in 10 minutes

(eKantipur, 4.06)

Senior Maoist leader Dr Babu Ram Bhattarai warned Saturday that people would seize power within ten minutes of the announcement of poll results if Maoists were defeated through rigging in Constituent Assembly (CA) election.
Addressing an election rally here, Dr Bhattarai claimed that people were impatiently waiting to elect the Maoist party, which made sacrifices for CA during the decade-long war against the establishment. He added that none of the forces could defeat the Maoists if there were free and fair polls.

 “Maoists are the mother of the CA. Let the CA not be kidnapped by fake mothers. Only the Maoists should reap the crops they sowed. Monkeys should not be allowed to reap the crop,” said Dr Bhattarai. “If Maoists were defeated through riggings the people will seize power within 10 minutes, not 10 days.”

He said that Young Communist League (YCL) members and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will make sure no cheating takes place during the elections and reiterated that his party is ready to accept any verdict of free and fair elections.

Dr Bhattarai alleged that both “national and international regressive forces” were hatching conspiracies to defeat the Maoists fearing that the Maoists are certain to win the elections.

He warned that sustainable peace in the country will not come about without properly managing the People’s Liberation Army. He criticized Nepali Congress and CPN-UML for failing to mention the issue of PLA management in their manifestos.

http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=143242

Related articles, recently published:

☞ 7 Maoists killed in clash with police in Dang (eKantipur, 4.09)

☞ Prachanda urges YCL to be on ‘defensive’ posture (nepalnews, 4.06)

☞ Maoists ready to accept any outcome of CA polls.. (eKantipur, 4.05)

☞ Video: al-Jazeera interview with Prachanda (4.09)

☞ The Maoists who embraced democracy (Guardian, 4.10)

 
More informations here:

☞ Nepal's Maoists go mainstream (al-Jazeera, 4.07)

☞ People & Power - Nepal elections - 06 Apr 08 - Part 1 (Videos by.. )

☞ People & Power - Nepal elections - 06 Apr 08 - Part 2 ( ..al-Jazeera TV)