June 2, 2008
Power Struggle between Maoists and Nepali Congress
Nepal went back to work on Sunday as government offices and schools opened for the first time since the celebrations following the opening of the Constituent Assembly on April 28. 
But already Nepal's leading political parties are locked in a power struggle. They have agreed to have a symbolic president and a powerful prime minister in the new republican system. But the centrist Nepali Congress, the second biggest group in the assembly, say the Maoists are demanding too much. "They can't have both the posts of a prime minister and the president at the same time," said Ram Chandra Poudel, a senior leader of the Nepali Congress.
The Maoists responded by giving the interim Prime Minister, G.P.
Koirala (leader of Nepali Congress Party) until tomorrow to step down.
Otherwise, Maoist leader 
Prachanda promised that the country could expect a fresh round of
street protests beginning Wednesday. Poudel retaliated to the threat,
saying that the premier would not resign till the former rebels agreed
to the demand by the other ruling parties to amend the constitution and
dissociated themselves from their armed combatants.
The
Maoists, who hold 220 seats in the new constituent assembly, say that
since they are the largest party, far outnumbering Koirala’s Nepali
Congress, that won only 110 seats, they should head the new government
as well as be given the posts of both prime minister and president.
Nepal Journalists threatened by Maoists
On another front, Prachanda warned the media against criticism of the
Maoist agenda. "We will no longer tolerate criticism as we have already
been elected by the people... we have become the largest party." He was
particularly critical of Kantipur Publications, which publishes two
leading news dailies.
The
Federation of Nepali Journalists hit back: "We cannot take this comment
lightly by the chairman of that party which is preparing to form the
government," the journalists said.
Bomb exploded in the capital near Maoist on May 30
Even
though the monarchy has been officially abolished, royalists have not
given up. A bomb exploded at Ratnapark near the venue where Prachanda
was holding a rally to celebrate the dawn of the republic. An
underground group calling itself Ranbir Sena took responsibility for
the bomb. No one was hurt, but this was the latest in a series of bombs
detonated in the capital in the last week.
Dismal economic forecast
In the meantime, Jennifer Harbinson, head of the Asia desk for Control
Risk Information Services, released a dreary assessment of Nepal’s
economy. Headquartered in London, Control Risks Group is a private risk
consultancy firm that provides advice and services that enable
companies, governments and international organizations to accelerate
opportunities and manage strategic and operational risks. Although
tourism is currently doing well in Nepal, Forbes magazine quotes
Harbinson’s overall pessimism: “It will be a long time before the
change in government results in any concrete economic change for Nepal.
The advent of a republic is not a sign of an economic take off. The
country is in a state of political and legal flux in terms of bringing
an end to civil conflict. Yes, it’s a positive. Whether it’s a positive
for the business and investment environment remains to be seen. For now
we are not expecting any major economic programs to emerge.” 
This assessment comes in spite of Prachanda’s attempt to allay fears of
the international community, reiterating that a capitalist phase fits
into his vision of progress toward a socialist state. He has also
promised to extend protection for private business and property.
For
now, Nepal’s most immediate worry is its dependency on India for oil,
which until has been heavily subsidized. Reserves are dangerously low,
all but depleted.
The Maoists’ growing affiliation with India’s Naxalites
On
May 30, the Indian Communist Party hailed the Maoists for bringing an
end to the Nepalese monarchy and ushering the country into an
“independent, secular, inclusive, federal democratic republic with
sovereignty and State authority entrusted in the Nepali people.” 
But it is the Maoists association with the revolutionary Naxalites,
which is grabbing analyists’ attention. The Naxalites were born out of
the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement. Ideologically
they belong to various trends of Maoism. Initially the movement had its
epicenter in West Bengal. In recent years, they have spread into less
developed areas of rural central and southeastern India.
The
Naxalites have consistently supported the Maoist struggle in Nepal, but
with the Maoist rise to power the curtain shrouding their alliance has
lifted.
The most recent development is this week’s announcement that
second-in-command Dr. Baburam Bhattarai will attend a rally in Kolkata
on June 23, organized by the newly formed Solidarity Initiative for the
Revolutionary in Nepal – a forum comprised of 13 Naxalite and leftist
organization. The forum will express its support of the Maoist struggle
in Nepal but also use the Maoist success as a source of encouragement
for its activities in rural Bengal.
Nepal's former king to leave palace quietly
It would appear that former king Gyanendra will leave the Narayanhiti
Palace peacefully. The palace will be converted into a museum.
Gyanendra’s new address in Kathmandu has not been announced and,
perhaps, he has not yet determined where his new home will be. His
private residence is currently occupied by former Crown Prince Paras,
who is rumored to be on poor terms with his father.
Nevertheless,
the new government has begun an audit of palace property – a huge
compound in the center of the capital said to contain a huge collection
or rare art works, statues, historical documents and jewels.
"No
one really knows what items are there in the palace as it was closed
for the public so far," said Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram
Chandra Poudel. "We have formed a committee to collect the details of
all these within 10 days. All items will be catalogued so they can be
displayed in the museum.”
The government has already taken over the ownership of thousands of
hectares of land owned by Gyanendra and more than a dozen of his
palaces since the monarch was humbled by weeks of protests in 2006.
But
the fall of the former god-king has been slow and humiliating. His face
was removed from Nepal's banknotes and replaced by Mount Everest. His
plumed crown was taken off Nepal's coat of arms and a rhododendron —
the national flower — substituted. The word "royal" was quietly dropped
from the national airline and the army.
And yesterday, Maoist chief Prachanda and his deputy Dr Baburam
Bhattarai visited the monarchy’s “ground zero”: They made a surprise
appearance in Gorkha, the district in western Nepal that was the
kingdom of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of Nepal's disgraced Shah
dynasty that had ruled the nation for 239 years.
Jubilant Maoists gathered around the main gate of the monarchy’s
ancestral home and erected a sign that read, "This is the federal
republic of Nepal."
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