Nepal Maoists issue new warning

By Joanna Jolly
BBC News, Kathmandu

The Maoist party in Nepal has issued a deadline of Thursday for the government to resolve a crisis that led to its resignation from power this year.

It says that if the government does not meet its demands, it will start a series of nationwide protests.

The Maoists say that they are not satisfied with the way the government has handled the situation.

Maoist PM Prachanda resigned in May after his decision to sack the army chief was overruled by the president.

The Maoists have described Dr Ram Baran Yadav's move as unconstitutional - and have demanded that the issue be debated in parliament.

'A dictator'

"The president acted above the law," Maoist committee member Dev Gurung said.

"He is trying to become a dictator, which is not what we want."

But the coalition government that took over from the Maoists says that the matter has already been discussed thoroughly by all of Nepal's political parties.

"All the other parties in Nepal have collectively taken the decision that the presidential action was correct and in keeping with civilian supremacy," said Ram Sharan Mahat of the Nepali Congress party, which is part of the new coalition government.

"As far as we're concerned, the issue has already been resolved."

If the Maoists' demand for further debate is not met, they have threatened to begin a series of parliamentary and civil protests, including mobilising supporters onto the streets.

Many Nepalis see this threat as a bid for power by the Maoists, who won Nepal's first democratic election last year.

"The real issue is not the sacking of the army chief. The real issue is that the new government has come in and it's expanding its networks and it's using state resources to build credibility among the population," says Aditya Adhikari, opinion editor of daily newspaper The Kathmandu Post.

"The Maoists are worried that they are going to be marginalised from the political picture and they're going to lose the gains that they've made over the past couple of years."

Other commentators believe the Maoists' action could threaten Nepal's ongoing peace process, which ended 10 years of civil war between the Maoists and the state.

As the deadline approaches, neither the Maoists nor the government say they are prepared to compromise.

If an agreement is not reached, the Maoists say they will begin their campaign of disruption on Friday.