Popular pressure spurs Nepal Maoists to end general strike

Nepal's Maoists ended a six-day general strike that had angered citizens and prompted 10,000 people to demonstrate in Kathmandu Friday. The move may signal their willingness to adopt a more conciliatory political stance.

Nepal's Maoists ended a six-day general strike Friday amid pressures to ensure that the increasingly unpopular strike did not further undermine their standing among the general population.

Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who goes by the name Prachanda, said in a press conference late Friday that Nepalese citizens should not be inconvenienced any further. He also said an end to the strike would deprive the government of opportunities to engineer clashes among Nepalese citizens.

“We have postponed the shutdown, but have not ended our other protests against this government,” he said.

But analysts said the Maoists' decision was forced by increasingly irate citizens. The strike disrupted food supplies and limited access to medical services. Clashes broke out in the capital with bused-in Maoist supporters. And Maoists came under fire for unleashing a conflict-era-style extortion campaign to feed the crowd, and commandeering private schools to shelter them.

By week's end, the upheaval appeared to have undermined any sympathy for the Maoists from the largely neutral citizens of Kathmandu, a group whose participation has been instrumental in all regime changes in Nepal’s history. Farmers and dairy owners were decrying the shutdown by throwing on the highways vegetable and milk that they could not take to the markets. On Friday, more than 10,000 people participated in a “peace gathering” in Kathmandu, and in Lalitpur district people overturned a truck carrying Maoist cadres and beat them up.

Ending the strike, some analysts say, may signal that Maoists are moving to adopt a more conciliatory approach that could change Nepal's troubled political landscape.

"The decision by the Maoists to ease the lives of ordinary citizens is a clear indication that they are feeling the heat," says columnist and lawyer Bhimarjun Acharya. “This is their response to the unpopularity of the shutdown and the consequent retaliation by locals against Maoist supporters."

“The Maoists made a mistake in trying to portray this shutdown as analogous to the nationwide protests in 2006,” Mr. Acharya adds, referring to the 19 days of nationwide protests in 2006 that forced King Gyanendra to relinquish executive authorities and kick-started the peace process. “Popular support comes from good agenda. This time the agenda is very personal."

Strike aimed to oust prime minister

The shutdown was meant to force Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal to step down and allow Maoist chairman Prachanda to lead a new government. “The second unspoken agenda of the shutdown was to shift the blame for the Constituent Assembly’s incompetence on ruling parties,” says Acharya. The assembly, elected in 2008 as part of the peace process, has until May 28 to draw a new constitution.

But a power struggle since May last year, when Prachanda’s coalition government collapsed over the sacking of an Army chief, has hindered the assembly’s work, making it impossible for the assembly to meet that deadline.

Yubaraj Ghimire, former editor of Kathmandu Post daily, says the strike cost the Maoists more than just popular support. It also cost them the recognition as a political force they enjoyed since 2006.

“More than anyone, the shutdown affected the farmers and daily wage earners who the Maoists claim to represent,” Mr. Ghimire says. “A half-hearted response will not help Maoists regain the respect they have lost from the grassroots."

Before Friday evening, the Maoists appeared intent on prolonging the strike, as calling it off without some face-saving result would demoralize their supporters who have spent days on the streets beaten down by the sun and pre-monsoon drizzle in Kathmandu. In the press conference Friday evening, Prachanda said he would hold a mass gathering in Kathmandu on Saturday to explain his decision.

Low-key government stand

The government took a low-key approach to handling the shutdown, directing security personnel not to use lethal force and to intervene only to control clashes. The strategy appeared to be to wait for the protesters and their leaders to tire out.

With more than simple majority support in the parliament, the prime minister is constitutionally entitled to continue to head the coalition government.

But a prolonged shutdown could have tested the prime minister’s competence, says Narayan Wagle, editor of Nagarik daily, as his government’s inability to ensure that Nepalese citizens enjoy their rights to live normal lives could have turned the tide against him.

Nepal faces yet another critical crossroads

May is when Nepal must decide to remain a competitive multiparty democracy or turn into a state slipping irrevocably into ultra-left quicksand fashioned by Maoist former rebels.

After being unable to muster a simple majority to support a no-confidence vote in parliament against the current government, the Maoists are set to launch an indefinite nationwide shutdown from May 2 in a bid to bring Madhav Kumar Nepal's government to its knees.
The decision by former Prime Minister Prachanda, supreme leader of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), to rally masses in the streets has created a climate of fear in Kathmandu where people are hoarding essentials and silently tolerating an extortionate campaign by the Maoists to feed and lodge their cadres during the shutdown.
The scale of the campaign, rampant in rural areas during a decade of armed conflict, was unheard of in Kathmandu.
But hundreds of thousands of Maoist cadres have already gathered from neighboring districts in Kathmandu, which will be the center of Maoist protests this time.
Several cadres have been arrested for possessing knives, while one Kathmandu-bound cadre was arrested in possession of a hand grenade, indicating the protests may turn violent.
The U.N. Mission in Nepal has called for an investigation and appropriate disciplinary action against the cadre.
The government that was formed after Prachanda's coalition collapsed last May over his sacking of the country's army chief is in a fix.
''Relenting to Maoist pressure and handing over the reins of the government to Prachanda will mean a permanent Maoist takeover,'' says Narayan Wagle, editor of the influential daily Nagarik.
The timing of the protests explains Wagle's argument.
The Maoists are set to enforce the shutdown just weeks before the expiry of the May 28 deadline for settling the future of more than 19,000 Maoist former combatants and promulgating a new Constitution.
Prachanda's plan, analysts say, is to form a new government under his leadership before May 28, exploit the chaotic post-May 28 scenario to prolong his government's life as long as he can and consolidate his party's grip on political life in Nepal.
''The Maoists already hold the lower class physically hostage,'' Wagle says. ''And with their repeated protests and shutdowns, they have achieved a psychological victory over the tired middle and upper-middle classes that are arguing that relenting to Maoist pressure is a far better option than facing indefinite shutdown.''
Premier Nepal, who is in Thimphu attending the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation summit, has said he is willing to step down if Nepal's fractious political parties can agree on a prime ministerial candidate other than Prachanda.
But the premier said that out of humility, Wagle says. ''He represents 22 political parties in his coalition and has to abide by their decision. If the 22 political parties refuse to relent, the other option for the government is a crackdown.''
So far, the government has indicated it will choose the second option.
Despite the ''show of humility'' by the premier, a moderate communist leader who comes from the country's third largest party, his government has issued directives to the Nepal Police, the Armed Police Force and the Nepal Army to remain on a high alert.
On Thursday, soldiers were seen drilling in Kathmandu, simulating a crackdown on protesters.
Ishwor Pokharel, general secretary of Premier Nepal's Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), argues the Maoist demand only they should lead a government by virtue of their being the largest party in parliament holds little ground.
''Under Nepal's parliamentary system, one needs simple majority to form a government. Being the largest party isn't sufficient,'' he said. ''And the Maoists had a chance to govern, which they squandered.''
Wagle said if the government intends to safeguard democracy, it must not relent.
''Under a Maoist government, Nepal might remain a competitive multiparty system, but it will not be a competitive multiparty democracy,'' he said.
And Premier Nepal is likely to return from Thimphu to Kathmandu an emboldened man.
During a 30-minute meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at Indian House in the SAARC village on Thursday, Singh pledged continued Indian support to Nepal's government, according to the Nepal's National News Agency.
That could mean a further hardening of positions in Nepal.
''The best course for the country would be to form an all-party government. But with Prachanda's insistence that only he should lead such a government and his decision to confront government forces, that option is also unlikely to be explored,'' Wagle said.
The power struggle has overshadowed Nepal's peace process.
The special assembly elected in April 2008 as part of the process aimed at settling the future of Maoist combatants and writing a new constitution by May 28 has few attendees these days.
Prachanda led a 10-year armed conflict against government forces until 2006, demanding the abolition of monarchy and a new constitution.
The special assembly where Maoists have the biggest presence abolished the country's 240-year-old monarchy in May 2008, but Prachanda's order last year to sack the army chief united rival parties, including those in his own coalition, against him and President Ram Baran Yadav countermanded the order.
Since then, Nepal's peace process has progressed at snail's pace with the Maoists focusing more on toppling the government than settling the future of their combatants and writing a constitution.

==Kyodo

South Korean Is First Woman to Scale 14 Highest Peaks

Climbing on all fours after 13 grueling hours, a diminutive South Korean woman, Oh Eun-sun, reached the summit of one of the Himalayan giants on Tuesday to lay claim to being the first woman to scale the world’s highest mountains.
In keeping with her country’s intense pride in its athletes, she pulled out a South Korean flag, raised her arms and shouted: “Hurray! Hurray!”

“I would like to share this joy with the South Korean people,” Oh, who is 5 feet 1 inch, said after reaching the summit of Annapurna in central Nepal.

South Koreans — who watched her climb because it was broadcast live by an accompanying camera team — hailed her as a national hero.

A message left on the Web site of the broadcaster KBS said: “All our people watched each step of your climb. You have demonstrated our country’s greatness all over the world.”

Annapurna was the last of the 14 peaks taller than 26,247 feet (8,000 meters) that Oh needed to climb to make history. She reached the summit — 26,545 feet above sea level — 13 years after she scaled her first Himalayan mountain, Gasherbrum II, in 1997.

“We recognize her achievement as the first woman climber to scale all the highest mountains in the world,” said Ang Tshering, president of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, according to The Associated Press.

Oh’s closest rival, Edurne Pasaban of Spain, scaled Annapurna this month but has yet to reach the 26,330-foot-high Mount Shisha Pangma.

Pasaban has raised questions about whether Oh actually reached the summit of Mount Kangchenjunga, the world’s third-highest peak, last year.

“Her sherpas told me that she didn’t reach the summit because of bad weather,” Pasaban told The Times of London recently.

In the absence of an international mountaineering body, Elizabeth Hawley, an 86-year-old American mountaineering journalist, is considered the final arbiter on such disputes. She agreed last week to record Oh’s ascent of Kangchenjunga as “disputed,” pending an investigation.

Oh, 34, scaled 4 of the 14 peaks last year but retreated several hundred feet from Annapurna’s summit because of bad weather.

On her historic climb, she was carrying a photograph of Ko Mi-young, her rival and fellow South Korean, who plummeted to her death last year while descending from Nanga Parbat, the world’s ninth-highest peak. Ko had climbed 11 of the 14 peaks.

“She showed us what challenge means,” Lee Myung-bak, the president of South Korea, said of Oh in his congratulatory message. “I am proud of her.”

Oh was bound to receive a hero’s welcome home in South Korea. Mountain-trekking is a national hobby in the country, where 70 percent of the land is mountainous.

Fewer than 20 people have made it to the top of the 14 peaks that are at least 26,247 feet high, including three South Korean men.

In recent weeks, the South Korean news media gave almost daily updates on Oh’s condition. On Tuesday, KBS showed hours of live coverage.

Nationalism looms large in sports in South Korea, a country obsessed with making a mark on the international scene. Kim Yu-na, the figure skater who won this year’s Olympic gold, is a national star.

News reports about sports stars winning world championships brim with patriotism. Reporters often ask the athletes to “say something to the people back home,” and they always thank “the people and the fatherland” before mentioning their family and loved ones.

“When life was hard and we were tired, sports have encouraged us with good news,” said Ko Dong-guk, one of hundreds of TV viewers who left congratulatory messages on the KBS Web site.

Maoist strike closes thousands of schools in Nepal

A strike called by former communist rebels shut down more than 8,000 private schools across this Himalayan nation over demands that school authorities reverse a decision to increase fees.

The student wing of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the former communist rebels, warned the schools to stay closed or face violence until the new fees are withdrawn.

Surya Krishna Shrestha of the Private and Boarding Schools of Nepal, which decides school fee rates for its member schools, said more than 1 million students were forced to stay at home Monday.

Initial reports said a handful of schools that defied the strike call and opened were attacked, Shrestha said. Buses and buildings of these schools were vandalized, he said.

Private schools make up about 30 percent of the total schools in Nepal. Government-run schools remained open.

This academic year, private schools increased fees by an average of 25 percent. The Maoists' affiliated student union have insisted that hte fee increase was unfair and that it took place without appropriate input from consumer groups.

Education Ministry spokesman Lekhnath Poudel said the government was urging the two sides to resolve the differences through talks and reopen the schools. Poudel said the government was willing to mediate the dispute if invited to do so, but that it did not have the authority to intervene.

The Maoists gave up a decade-old armed revolt in 2006 to join a peace process. Since then they have confined their fighters in U.N.-monitored camps, joined mainstream politics and contested elections in 2008. They emerged as the largest political party and briefly led a coalition government before withdrawing to lead the opposition.