Secret US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks on March 15 show that former US ambassador to Nepal, James Moriarty, actively sought to destabilise Nepal鈥檚 peace process in order to prevent a Maoist rise to power.
The Maoist-led People鈥檚 Liberation Army waged a decade-long 鈥減eople鈥檚 war鈥 against Nepal鈥檚 centuries-old feudal monarchy. A people鈥檚 uprising in 2006 brought the monarchy down, opening the way for an elected constituent assembly in 2008.
Nepal
Acting Nepali Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has argued that bullets, explosives and other munitions no longer constitute 鈥渓ethal military hardware鈥 as long as they are to be used for 鈥渢raining and other related works鈥.
MK Nepal was seeking to justify the decision to allow India to resume arms supplies to Nepal. He has never been elected and came to power after the Maoist-led government was brought down by a soft military coup in 2009.
The sixth plenum of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist 鈥 UCPN(M)) began on November 20 in Gorka District. It was the largest meeting in the party鈥檚 history; more then 7000 local members are taking part in discussions.
The Nepalese revolution is in a state of limbo. The current government resigned in May, but continues in a caretaker fashion, as no alternative has come forward.
The 2006 Jana Andolan (鈥淧eople鈥檚 Movement鈥), which shut down Nepal and overthrew the 240-year-old Shah monarchy, was widely hailed as the birth of a new era of democracy.
For the first time, the people of Nepal were able to elect a constituent assembly in 2008, giving the mass of Nepalis an unprecedented say in the future of their country.
Jed Brandt, a member of US Kasama Project, is in Katmandu reporting on the ongoing struggle between Nepal鈥檚 poor majority, led by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (UCPN-M), and the US and Indian-backed elite that removed the UCPN-M-led government last year.
The following joint statement of solidarity has been signed by a number of left and progressive organisations, in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. If your organisation would like to sign on, please email international@socialist-alliance.org
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Support the struggle for democracy and social justice in Nepal
May 6, 2010
On May 1 in Kathmandu, in a dramatic show of force by Nepal鈥檚 Maoists to demand a return to civilian rule and a democratic process of creating a new, pro-people constitution. With the government refusing popular demands for its resignation, an indefinite general strike has been called from May 2 in what the Maoists are calling a 鈥渇inal push鈥 to resolve the struggle for power between the poor majority and Nepal鈥檚 elite.
On September 19, Nepal聮s finance minister and member of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) Dr Baburam Bhattarai announced the first budget of the Republic of Nepal.
While the historic elections for a constituent assembly were held in April 鈥 a product of the pro-democracy uprising that has ended Nepal鈥檚 monarchy and created a republic 鈥 Nepal is still yet to have a new government sworn in.
Nepal, a small landlocked nation in the Himalayas wedged between China and India, is an incredibly poor and underdeveloped nation.
On May 28, Nepal entered a new era when the constituent assembly 聴 in its first meeting since the April 10 elections 聴 overwhelming voted to abolish the 240-year-old monarchy and declare Nepal a democratic republic.
Originally published in Liberation, the magazine of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist Liberation. A longer version can be found at the socialist e-journal, Links, http://links.org.au.
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