Lawmakers in Nepal were expected yesterday to elect Maoist leader Prachanda as the Himalayan country’s new prime minister, ending months of deadlock following the abolition of the monarchy.
The ex-rebels, who fought for a decade to oust the king and overturn what they see as a feudal structure, say they have enough support in a new assembly to be handed the reins of government and push through sweeping reforms.
“Months of political deadlock have finally come to an end,” Prachanda told reporters after filing his candidacy papers to stand in yesterday’s assembly vote.
In elections in April, the ex-rebels won the largest number of seats in a new constitutional assembly but fell short of a majority — requiring them to strike deals with other parties.
The Maoists have allied themselves with the center-left Unified Marxist-Leninist party and the Madheshi Janaadhikar Forum (MJF) to ensure Prachanda will be named as Nepal’s new prime minister.
“The alliance ... has made it certain Prachanda will become prime minister as they’ll easily get the votes needed for a simple majority,” said Kundan Aryal, editor of the weekly news magazine Himal.
Nepal has been without a proper government since April 28, when the assembly voted to sack unpopular king Gyanendra and abolish the 240-year-old monarchy.
Nepal’s interim prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, seen by many as the architect of the 2006 peace deal that ended the bloody civil war, was preparing to leave his official residence, a member of his staff confirmed.
“He is packing his bags and will leave Friday afternoon,” said Shekhar Thapa, the prime minister’s secretary.
Born into a high-caste but poor farming family, Prachanda — whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal — says he was driven to politics by the extreme poverty he witnessed in rural Nepal.
He led the Maoists in a decade-long insurgency before signing the peace deal with mainstream political parties in 2006, after Gyanendra was forced to end a period of authoritarian direct rule in the face of massive protests.
But the school teacher-turned-revolutionary, whose nom-de-guerre means “the fierce one,” has had trouble shaking off his ruthless warlord image.
Critics say the Maoists have yet to fully abandon violence and that their feared youth wing — the Young Communist League — must disband to prove they are committed to peaceful democracy.
But the only strong opposition yesterday to Prachanda — whose party is still blacklisted by the US — will come from Nepal’s oldest and second biggest party, the Nepali Congress.
Congress, led by Koirala, said it would field a candidate for the election and would not participate in the new government if it is defeated.
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