Nepal Maoists vow return to power

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's Maoists will launch street protests in a campaign to return to power and conclude a stalled peace process that brought them into the political mainstream, their leader said on Wednesday.

The former rebels and the government have been in a political stalemate over the firing of the army chief earlier this year, which has stalled implementation of a landmark 2006 peace deal that ended a decade-long civil war.

Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by his nom de guerre Prachanda, said the Maoists were committed to peace and an early conclusion to the deal.

But they must be allowed to form the government again to oversee the drafting of a new constitution, the final part of the peace deal, said Prachanda, who quit as prime minister in May after the president reversed his decision to fire the army chief.

"Our party firmly stands in favour of the peace process and in favour of the constitution-making process," he said in an interview on Wednesday at his heavily guarded home in Kathmandu.

"The whole process of change is directly related with our party ... and the people have, through democratic election, given us the responsibility to lead this process," he said.

Some "dogmatic people" were trying to derail the peace process and provoke the Maoists into quitting it, he said.

But a new constitution, which must be approved by a two-thirds majority of the assembly, was not possible without the support of the Maoists, who control nearly 40 percent of the assembly seats, he said.

The Maoists became Nepal's largest political group after last year's election for a special constituent assembly, which is tasked with writing a new constitution. They abolished the 239-year-old monarchy and turned the Himalayan nation into a republic.

These were "far-reaching and historic changes", said the bespectacled Prachanda, 54, seated on a couch under a map of Nepal and a war-time photograph of him holding a burning torch.

The Maoists, who still appear on a U.S. list of terrorist organisations, are criticised by mainstream parties for continuing violence and intimidation against political rivals, which they say undermines their commitment to democracy.

But Prachanda dismissed these charges: "How can any people suspect our intention of democracy?" he said.

"We have come to the peace process. We entered into the electoral process and we became the single largest party."

Tiny, impoverished Nepal is also taking care to nurture its political relations with influential neighbours China and India.

Last year, Prachanda visited China to attend the closing ceremony of the summer Olympic Games, breaking a tradition of new Nepali leaders making New Delhi their first foreign port of call.

India and China, two of the world's fastest growing economies, were studying the "whole dynamics" of change in Nepal and were competing to influence the process, Prachanda said.

"We don't want to tilt towards anyone. We want to maintain equidistance and benefit from the development they've achieved."

By Gopal Sharma for Reuters