Nepal Prime Minister to Resign, Constitutent Assembly Extended

Soon to be former Nepal Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal

from the New York Times

Nepal Avoids Political Crisis With Broad Deal to Extend Parliament

By Kiran Chapagain and Jim Yardley

KATMANDU, Nepal — Nepal averted political chaos on Friday when the leading political parties reached a last-minute agreement that prevented the dissolution of Parliament and provided another year for the Himalayan nation to complete its peace process.

Faced with a midnight deadline, Nepal’s Maoists reached a broadly worded deal with leaders of two other major political parties in which the Maoists agreed to extend the term of Parliament, the Constituent Assembly. In exchange, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal agreed to resign at an unspecified time in the future to “pave the way” for a new government.

Members of the assembly took up the measure before midnight and passed it around 1 a.m., after leaders had signaled their approval. The Maoists had been demanding the resignation of the prime minister before Friday’s deadline as a precondition for extending the assembly. But Mr. Nepal had refused and other parties had insisted on certain commitments by the Maoists.

Nepal: Revolutionary Leader Speaks on the Future of the Movement

This article was published in MRZine.

Nepal: Interview with Maoist Leader CP Gajurel

by Kaveri Rajaraman

Chandra Prakash Gajurel is a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

Q: Let me start with the most pressing question of the day.  Now that the strike has been called off, and it looks like the May 28, 2010 deadline for writing the constitution will not be met, what are the expectations and conditions under which the party will extend the tenure of the Constituent Assembly, and what is the party strategy if its conditions are not met?  What will happen after May 28th?

A: The political environment around May 28th will decide our strategy.  Right now NC, UML and India are continuing to hope that we will change our minds at the eleventh hour.  Even if we deny this now, they are hoping for our last minute acceptance of the extension of the CA’s tenure without our conditions being fulfilled.  But I can say this: no, we will not.

This means there are the following options for what happens after May 28th: one, that the CA’s tenure is extended under our party’s leadership, an option provided for by the interim constitution; two, that the government will declare emergency, in which case the CA’s tenure will be extended by 6 months as per the interim constitution; three, worst of all, that Presidential rule will be established on an unconstitutional basis.  If emergency is declared, this will be an unpopular move and we will oppose it.  It is supposed to be declared, as per the constitution, based on the fulfilment of one of three conditions: external intervention, uncontrollable internal chaos, or severe economic crisis.  If President’s rule is declared, we will oppose it and view it as basically a military coup.  Our tactics of opposition will depend on the mood of the masses.