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Maoist Party shuts down Nepal
ˇĄDECISIVE FIGHTˇ¦: Schools, markets and businesses were all
closed, while many of the public have been stockpiling food fearing the
stand-off could turn violent
AFP , KATHMANDU
Monday, May 03, 2010, Page 5
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A Maoist activist shouts anti-government
slogans as he arrives in Kathmandu city center on a truck yesterday.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Maoist former rebels patrolled the streets of the Nepalese capital Kathmandu
yesterday, enforcing a shutdown in a show of strength designed to pressure the
government to step down.
The Maoist Party, which has the largest number of seats in parliament, is
demanding that the ruling coalition be replaced by a Maoist-led national
administration.
All shops were closed and vehicles were kept off the roads by groups of
opposition supporters carrying sticks and chanting revolutionary slogans.
ˇ§The whole country is shut down. No institutions or industries are operating and
there is no traffic,ˇ¨ senior police official Bigyan Raj Sharma said.
More than 100,000 Maoist demonstrators rallied in Kathmandu on Saturday to
protest against the current government, which is struggling to keep the
countryˇ¦s peace process on track.
Maoist guerrillas fought a bloody civil war against the state for 10 years
before a peace agreement was signed in 2006 and the left-wing rebels then won
elections in 2008 and held power for eight months.
ˇ§We are not asking to form the government on our own. We want a national unity
government led by us,ˇ¨ said Jhakku Subedi, a Maoist constituent assembly member.
ˇ§This is a peaceful strike to oust a puppet government.ˇ¨
In a televised address on Saturday evening, Nepalese Prime Minister Madhav Kumar
Nepal refused to resign and appealed for further talks, stressing that an
ˇ§all-party consensus is the only alternative that will pave the way forward.ˇ¨
ˇ§Shutting down the nation is not the way to find a solution to this impasse,ˇ¨ he
said.
Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who led the rebels during the decade of
fighting in which at least 16,000 people were killed, however, told protesters
that the strike would last until the government was forced from office.
Dahal, often known by his nom-de-guerre Prachanda, was prime minister until May
last year when his Maoist-led government fell after the president overruled its
decision to sack the head of the army.
The demonstration on Saturday was peaceful despite fears of clashes between the
oppositionˇ¦s aggressive youth wing and the security forces. Police said the
crowd totaled about 150,000 ˇX much lower than Maoist estimates of 600,000.
The Maoists said they would only allow ambulances, waste disposal vehicles and
journalists onto the streets during the day, and residents could only leave
their homes for shopping for two hours in the evening.
ˇ§This is a final and decisive fight against the government,ˇ¨ said Chitran
Bishwakarma, 25, a female Maoist cadre who was wearing a red bandana with a star
on her forehead. ˇ§We are chanting slogans for the government to quit and pave
the way for a new constitution and peace. We are peaceful, but if the government
pushes us around and tries to intervene, we will not keep quiet.ˇ¨
The shutdown hit schools, markets, businesses and government offices across
Nepal. Many residents have been stockpiling food and supplies fearing the
stand-off could turn violent.
The coalition government has faced months of protests from the Maoists over
demands that the left-wing former rebels disband the paramilitary structure of
the Young Communist League and return seized property.
Lawmakers have until May 28 to complete a new constitution that analysts say is
key to ensuring lasting peace between the Maoists and the state, though few
expect the deadline to be met.
They must also reach an agreement on integrating nearly 20,000 former Maoist
fighters languishing in UN-monitored camps.
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