Nepal’s Constituent Assembly comes down to the wire
With two hours to go until the term of Nepal's elected Constituent Assembly draws to a close, women delegates of the Maoist party are chanting and marching through the parliament chambers. Today was the deadline for Nepal's first democratic constitution, and compromise between the Maoists and the government parties appears elusive.
Crowds have gathered around the assembly building throughout the day, with marches from Tribhuvan University, indigenous organizations and others rallying for the resignation of the widely unpopular Prime Minister MK Nepal and for a Maoist-led national unity government. All sides have hardened their position, with Maoists thus far rejecting any extension of the Constituent Assembly unless the sitting government resigns.
At stake are the democratic consensus among the political parties, reforms to the state and the peace process which ushered in the Constituent Assembly and overthrew Nepal's monarchy.
Maoists have expressed concern that President Yadav will assert power in the coming days, with backing from the army. The current prime minister has around 6% support, according to recent polling.
The Maoists called off their general strike in the first week of May, saying they wished to see the Constituent Assembly process through to its conclusion. Debate within their Central Committee raged throughout the week, with a strong minority arguing for immediate revolt. They agreed to maintain their position of "maximum flexibility" -- but that may not avert the crisis.
Should the Constituent Assembly fail to deliver a constitution, or at least the return of Maoists to leadership in the government -- there will effectively be no government as of midnight.
On Saturday, May 29, the Maoists will rally at Ratna Park in the center of Kathmandu for a mass meeting to unveil their constitutional draft. But with little room for peaceful accord, no one quite knows what to expect.
French Translation: Les premiers jours de mai au Népal — Grève générale et provocation
Thanks to the le Comité de Solidarité Franco-Népalais for this translation. The piece, by Jed Brandt appeared originally in English jedbrandt.net
Les premiers jours de mai au Népal -- Grève générale et provocation
par Jed Brandt
Katmandou, 11 mai -- La plus grande mobilisation d’êtres humains dans l'histoire du Népal a amené des centaines de milliers de villageois dans la capitale Katmandou pour les manifestations du premier mai - et le pays tout entier s’est arrêté.
En marche pour défendre les barricades contre les provocations de la droite
Premier Mai !
Le premier mai, cette ville a appartenu aux maoïstes.
De Kalanki au Old Bus Park, les autobus bondés se sont déversés dans la ville. Chaque siège et espace était remplis. Les jeunes hommes étaient perchés sur les toits. Des sacs de riz, de lentilles et de légumes étaient stockés dans les écoles, les salles des fêtes et les chantiers de construction qui ont servi de campements aux manifestants.
Depuis que je suis arrivé à Katmandou, c'a été une chose remarquable de voir le marteau et la faucille flotter si fièrement à travers la ville. Mais le premier mai, voyant les milliers d'ouvriers des syndicats marcher à travers la ville pour accueillir les villageois, dont nombre d’entre eux voyaient une ville pour la première fois – tout cela a rempli de chair et de sang le vieux symbole communiste. Le marteau pour les ouvriers, la faucille pour les paysans.
Nepal’s First Days of May: General Strike and Provocation
Marching to defend Maoist barricades against rightwing provocations.
Kathmandu, May 11 -- The largest mobilization of human beings in Nepal's history brought hundreds of thousands of villagers into the capital Kathmandu for May First protests – and the entire country to a standstill.
May Day!
On May First, this city belonged to the Maoists.
From Kalinki to the Old Bus Park, packed buses poured into the city. Their every seat and aisle was filled. Young men perched on the roofs. Bags of rice, lentils and vegetables were stockpiled in the schools, wedding halls and construction sites that served as makeshift camps for the protesters.
Since I arrived in Kathmandu, it has been a remarkable thing to see the hammer and sickle waved so proudly across the city. But on May First, seeing thousands of union workers walk across the shuttered city to greet villagers, many of whom were seeing a city for the first time – all that put flesh and blood to the old communist symbol. Hammer for the workers, sickle for the peasants.
Business as usual was completely stopped. Cars and motorcycles were called off the roads and so, for the first time in a month, crisp blue skies opened up as the veil of smog lifted.
General Strike in Nepal Suspended
by Jed Brandt
May 7 (noon EST, evening Kathmandu):
Prachanda announces end of general strike. Violence from police and vigilante groups was widespread today. Nobody knows yet what this means – the new terms will be announced at mass meetings across the city tomorrow.
May 7 (9 am EST, afternoon Kathmandu):
Vigilante gangs broke off from civil society peace march, attacking protesters rocks and sticks. Police respond by tear-gassing canteen, beating Maoists who responded to the attack. Hindu-chauvinist groups attack Maoists with police assistance in the Terai, targeting leaders. Don’t believe the mainstream press. They smear the movement, portraying right-wing gangs as local residents and protesters as outsiders.
May 6
Government intransigent in face of the Maoist mobilization. There is still dancing, but after a week in the streets and the total shut down tempers are rising. Minor clashes are breaking out around bandh compliance. Counter-mobilizations are threatened.
Nepal General Strike Day 3: Ring Road Red Revolution
by Jed Brandt
The ring road that circles Kathmandu was surrounded today in rings of protesters. 28 kilometers long in two rows, sometimes four. WIth 18 marches of roughly 20,000+ each. At dusk, the Maoist leaders Prachanda, Bhattarai and Kiran drove down the road.
Again, overwhelming. Have to go.
Nepal General Strike: Day 2
At dusk, police fired tear gas at marchers near Gongabu bus terminal, and live ammunition into the air to push back the crowds. No one was seriously injured, nor was anyone too shaken at the scene. People are determined and won't be scared off. Rallies throughout the city. It's on.
Nepal’s May First Events: People Besiege a Government
By Jed Brandt
From here in Kathmandu the monarchy ruled this diverse mountain nation for two hundred years. This is where the national elite live, with its political parties, banks and walled compounds. But the streets now belong to the people, and it is this "people's power" movement that they fear.
Kathmandu is chaotic on a normal day, but for May First the Maoists mobilized at least 500,000 people to the steets with both discipline and revelry. The Janandolan III, or popular uprising, they promised is here.
The Kalinki Gathering
We positioned ourselves by one of the eighteen gathering points for the May First events. Each of the gathered marches will then move through the streets to Martyr's Field in the Kathmandu city center.
By 10 a.m. on the morning of May First, thousands of restaurant and hotel workers assembled around us at Kalinki. As contingents came in from every direction to the central intersection, cries of "Lal salaam!" (Red Salute) rose to meet the latest arrival.
The sight of city workers and students meeting country farmers was heart-warming. And it is in marked contrast to the bigoted hostility and fear the elites express toward the working classes.
In Nepal, the hammer and sickle is a living symbol of who this movement is: The sickle is for the farmers, the hammer for the workers. They are set together on the red flag of proletarian revolution.
Young Communist League cadre in their matching track suits set up perimeters protecting the march route – They hold hands in lines along the road and down the side streets leading in, facing off with lines of riot cops in black body armor.
Inside the crowd, recently trained protesters formed circles within circles, like an onion, to keep the protests orderly and remain prepared in case of the violent repression that the prime minister has so openly threatened.
Motorcycles provided communication between units. At the head of the march, a man in sunglasses and a flak jacket kept a cell phone to his ear. Messengers are constantly coming and going.
Human rights observers in blue uniforms stood off to the side chatting with teams of medics dressed in white. Among the Maoists, neighborhood associations all have their own color coordination and many of the country people come wearing the bright saris and wraps that are their traditional dress. It is the first time since I arrived in Nepal that I’ve the famous ethnic diversity of this country gathered in one place – and there is an undeniable fraternal spirit in the air.
Rivers of protesters flow by each other in swirls and cross-currents.
Quick May 2 Note
This will be short: Internet access is terrible. And may suffer further interruptions because of the bandh shutdown.
The general strike is on. The revolutionaries are energetic and in high spirits. The whole city is occupied. At this moment, YCL are enforcing the shut down. A two hour window for food shopping and basic needs is ending in ten minutes, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow for pictures and the report. This is a people's rising, so far peaceful. Nobody is going home until the government falls.
Groups have practicing charges all day. Running back and forth. The morale is very high, and the people feel they are now making a revolution.
Much more will be in my coming report. This will be prolonged, and will be peaceful most likely for at least a few days. After five days, the chances of escalation will increase.
I'm getting around -- and will share what I learn.
May First Update: General Strike is On, the People are Charged
The marching formation of Young Communist League, Nepal. Photo taken just before May First
"I have never seen anything like this. This is what a revolutionary situation looks like."
by Jed Brandt
Late into the night, after a long day of May First, Kathmandu: I just left the Radisson Hotel where negotiations had been going on. Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, a top leader of the Maoists and their negotiating team, came out the doors to say that the three negotiating parties have not reached an agreement. The general strike is on.
Other in attendance at the negotiations included Congress and UML. The hated, isolated current prime minister MK Nepal will not resign.
Bhattarai was sharp and direct. Since they will not make way for a national unity government, the agitations will increase tomorrow with a national general strike to topple the unpopular and unelected government.
A City Filled for May First, and for Struggle
The May First rally today was well over 500,000.
It was so large that it overflowed the Martyr’s Field and stretched for at least a mile to the north and south. The crowd was so large that it was between 500,000 and a million. The spirit was jubulent, serious, sober. The people are ready.
There was a dramatic enactment on stage with dancers showing a conflict between the crowds and murderous forces of repression wielding knives to cut the crowd. In the skit, people fell as martyrs, were carried away and were then replace by victorious surges.
Nepal’s Streets for May 1: “We Make the Power”
by Jed Brandt
KATHMANDU, APRIL 29, 2010-- Business as usual is over in Kathmandu. With two days to go until May First, overflowing buses are pulling in by the hour to the outskirts of town.
The city is crowded. Bus caravans are unloading directly into street marches wild with chanting, marshaled by uniformed cadre from the Young Communist League. Despite a week of fear-mongering by Nepal’s mainstream press, the crowds are militant, but unarmed. And they are giddy despite harassment from the Armed Police on the roads leading into the city.
Several Maoists have been arrested on petty weapons charges, but these are the exceptions to the rule.
The Maoist rallies have already started. The central intersections of every district I passed were filled with young people, always the young!
There is more density towards the center of the city, as mini-rallies are moving from the outskirts towards the center, but they aren't all staying by government buildings. It seems as the contingents arrive, they are dipping into the center and then marching back out across the city. The convergence of all these hundreds of thousands of people is set for May First. The contingents are on their own for now.
