Maoists refuse to form government

Great strategy: withdraw for a bit, let the government descend into chaos, and then swoop in as the peacemaking voice of reason. It's almost a perfect scenario for the Maoists.

I'll keep the smoking going up for the people of Nepal; they deserve a decent government.
 
Martini said:
Great strategy: withdraw for a bit, let the government descend into chaos, and then swoop in as the peacemaking voice of reason. It's almost a perfect scenario for the Maoists.

I'll keep the smoking going up for the people of Nepal; they deserve a decent government.
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Heh. Those tricky Maoists! Before you know it, they'll be ruling the world!
 
Here's what happened electorally. The four biggest parties in the Constituent Assembly are:

  • Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) — 229 seats, 38%
  • Nepali Congress Party — 115 seats, 19%
  • Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) — 108 seats, 18%
  • Madhesi People's Rights Forum — 54 seats, 9%

The consensus of the assembly was that CPN(M), as the largest party, was entitled to "form the government." Prachanda, as Prime Minister, would submit his ministerial nominees to the assembly for approval either by acclamation or by simple majority vote.

OK, but that's not all there is to forming a government. The fifth amendment to the interim constitution gave Nepal a non-executive head of state — actually two of them, a President and a Vice-President. Non-executive head of state doesn't sound like a job to fight over, but they have budgets and they hire staff: in other words, they have patronage. Political patronage is a big deal where I live, and I'll bet it's even more important in Nepal.

So the second, third, and fourth largest parties formed an alliance to share the wealth. Between them they have 46% of the assembly, but the results weren't automatic, and there must have been a lot of legwork to solicit votes from the smaller parties. Dr. Ram Baran Yadav became the new President after two ballots. He was Health Minister in two Nepali Congress governments in the 1990s, and he's an ethnic Madhesi. Paramananda Jha from the MPRF was elected Vice President on July 19. Subash Chandra Nemwang from CPN(UML) was elected Chairman of the Constituent Assembly on July 23.

So now Prachanda says he won't be PM after all. "After our candidate was defeated in the presidential election we lost the moral grounds to lead the government." That's the language of public relations. In the language of parliamentary democracy, what he's saying is this: you've taken the three best jobs so far, and what do I get in return?
 
odd the maoists and the marxist/leninist factions of the communist party do not band together (could it be they do not get along?) to get 56%
 
kronckew said:
odd the maoists and the marxist/leninist factions of the communist party do not band together (could it be they do not get along?) to get 56%
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IMHO it is as likely as the Southern Baptist Convention joining the Catholic Church on the basis of shared Christian faith. They will sit down in the same room and they may even talk, but that's as far as it goes.

Here is a link to a New York Times article on the NPC(UML):

http://tiny.cc/NPC_UML

Madhav Kumar Nepal resigned as party chairman when he lost his district to the NCP(M) in the April election. His views still reflect the tendency of his party.
 
The Maoists would appear to be applying the standard technique as practiced by Lenin and other agitators/revolutionaries of the communist ideology..... negotiate what seems to be a solid agreement - then at the very last moment come up with some pretext for pulling out in a (fake) huff.... so as to demand, and probably get, even more concessions from their opponents.
 
seaice said:
The Maoists would appear to be applying the standard technique as practiced by Lenin and other agitators/revolutionaries of the communist ideology..... negotiate what seems to be a solid agreement - then at the very last moment come up with some pretext for pulling out in a (fake) huff.... so as to demand, and probably get, even more concessions from their opponents.
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That's how we used to bargain at the Maxwell Street market. We weren't Leninists, maybe we were Shmeninists.

Four dollars for the shirt. Wait a minute, FOUR DOLLARS FOR THOSE SHIRTS!? If I unpinned them, I bet none of them even have backs! I don't have time for this. (Turns away in disgust, then turns back.) I'll tell you what, I'll pay four dollars for three — and I want them all unpinned before I pay!​

That's how people negotiate and I must admit I don't enjoy it. If I lived in Nepal, I think my wife would have to do the shopping. If I went into politics, I would get her to run for office while I stayed at home writing speeches. I'm the sensitive petunia-sniffing type.

But I learned one thing about bargaining in my union's contract negotiations: if you want to keep a clear head and understand what's going on, you have to be very concrete and stick to the facts. Empty sloganeering makes you blind.

So according to BBC, this is what Prachanda said when he returned to negotiations. He has three conditions "to lead the government."

[W]e want . . . a written commitment from the other political parties that they will not be involved in the forming and ousting of the government once we lead the government, for at least two years . . .​

Such a commitment would have no force in law, since there is no law compelling MPs to vote as their party leaders instruct. According to the constitution, a simple majority vote of no confidence dismisses the PM and the cabinet. The only written "commitments" that would change that are a constitutional amendment or an agreement on a national unity government — so he wants one or the other or both. A government without even a conditional majority would not be very effective, and it might not last very long. But if he can't get what he wants, he can always take a piece of paper and say he got something.

that the three main opposition parties dissolve their alliance . . .​

It's dissolved already! The bloc of three doesn't want to form a government. Their agreement was to support each other's candidates for President, Vice President and Chairman of the Constituent Assembly. Mission accomplished!

that the[y] be allowed to launch a "minimum programme".​

Now it is being called a common minimum program, with the President leading negotiations between CPN(M), Congress and CPN(UML). The question is land reform. CPN(M) wants to break up the big landed estates and expropriate the absentee landlords. Will this happen? To what extent will it happen? And what happens next? Will it become village common land? State-owned collective farms? Self-managed producer cooperatives? Will it be given to poor farmers and landless farm workers as their private property? And how will they farm it then? Where will the money come from?

This is going to be a tough one. Prachanda needs to get something or he'll start to lose his base. And I think we can all agree that the people in the countryside need something too. Forty acres and a mule. Anything.
 
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