(Courtesy: "Sopwith Pup")
Maoist chairman Prachanda’s view of ‘electoral democracy’ as a ‘farce’ in his recent address to the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit held in India sends ominous signals as to where his group wants to take Nepal in the future. If Prachanda cannot digest parliamentary electoral democracy, may we ask what he has in mind?
Statements like these only raise questions regarding Maoist intentions, even after the signing of the peace accord with the seven parties. As hardline communists, Maoists have championed the cause of a communist republic from day one. While political debate has focused on whether to keep the monarchy or not, none of our pundits seem to be concerned about the political system the country is going to follow. Is the new political system really going to espouse values like individual freedoms, right to liberty and happiness, and freedom from fear and intimidation? Or is it going to be some ‘guided democracy’ or ‘benevolent dictatorship of the ruling proletariat?
The massive recruitment drive that was witnessed throughout the country last week, adds further suspicion toward the Maoists. Should the Nepali people take this move as a ploy to fill up designated cantonments with novices while ‘veterans’ are deployed in the countryside to ‘persuade’ people during constituent assembly elections? Or maybe the current recruiting spree is an effort to keep face in the public domain after the Maoists declared 30,000 fighters they do not have? Those familiar with the tactics the rebels used understand the concept of space and time that the element of surprise endowed the Maoists.
Whatever it may be, it is regrettable that the current recruitment effort has not been branded by any monitoring body as what it truly is - a violation of the code of conduct governing the cease-fire between the two sides. With the signing of the peace accords on November 21, it is every Nepali’s hope that this time, the letter of the treaty (having been signed in the presence of one and all) will not only be upheld by all concerned, but also enforced when necessary.
In the recent past, Maoists ‘urged’ citizens of Kathmandu and Lalitpur to accommodate their supporters and cadre inside private homes in preparation for a massive Maoist victory parade in Kathmandu. This was a true test of peoples’ tolerance. Citizens of Lalitpur rebelled and protested in front of the Maoist office in Kupondole. This was a tacit demonstration of the fact that when put to test, people can say no.
Pictures of Maoist workers tearing down protest placards and throwing bricks at peaceful protesters were hosted on various internet sites only to be quickly removed – no one wanted to jeopardize on-going peace parleys. With yesterday’s exchange of signatures, such inhibitions are no longer in place. The Maoists have committed to live by the same rules as everyone else and when it comes to politics, this means bowing to the peoples’ demands, not having the party writ dictated on the people. This is a lesson our Maoists will quickly learn, now that they have publicly committed to mainstream politics.
The whole Maoist mass meeting, which was the reason behind summoning thousands of people to the valley, was cancelled by the rebels themselves due to firm public opposition. After all, the idea of hosting total strangers with possible criminal backgrounds in private homes was totally unpalatable to the residents of Lalitpur. The Maoist calculation that people of the capital would adhere to their ‘wonderful’ plan to lodge their cadres and supporters like the people of the countryside, backfired miserably. The Maoists, however, were quick to point to the protest as being organized by ‘royalists’.
Anyone who saw the pictures and read public statements knows who led the protests against the Maoist office in Kupondole. If UML and NC activists are who they are when they’re supporting the Maoist agenda and the same people are “reactionaries” and “royalists” when they don’t play along with the Maoists, then our Maoists will quickly learn that fooling the informed population is not as easy as taking advantage of relative illiteracy. With the signing of the peace accord, our Maoists will also quickly learn the meaning and definition of property rights and the difference between public and private property.
The Maoists’ entry into the interim parliament is right around the corner. With 73 seats of the interim legislature to account for, the Maoists can be assumed to be bargaining for key portfolios in the interim cabinet. As the interim government is only a caretaker government, not much can be expected out of it except the planning for ‘free and fair’ elections of to a constituent assembly. This in itself, is a magnanimous task and deserves the full and devoted attention of all players concerned. This point also marks the transition between “alliance” led politics to pure competitive politics. All should be weary of plans to promulgate interim laws that govern anything other than processes and procedures that pertain to constituent assembly elections. It is for the elected assembly to chart Nepal’s future, not the interim parliament.
Maoists in the government will definitely be a force to be reckoned with as the ‘revolutionary ministers will certainly provide much to the Maoist cadre in their effort to ‘convince’ the electorate to vote for their cause. However, intimidation tactics of the past can no longer be permitted to exacerbate the climate of fear already in existence. The comprehensive peace treaty of November 21 explicitly states that such practices will no longer be used and this upkeep of this article of agreement, is quintessential to free and fair elections. Our Maoists need to understand that internal investigations and public apologies today, only to repeat violent acts tomorrow, are no longer acceptable.
International monitors of the constituent assembly elections can only monitor the electoral mechanism. These people will not be able to gauge the fear and intimidation experienced by the public at large. Given the Maoist control of the rural areas, such suspicion of such negative practices are bound to persist. Keeping the armaments locked up while the Maoist militia runs amok does nothing for a psychologically impaired rural population. This is precisely why political activism by all parties must commence immediately at the grass roots. The practice of “permission” from local Maoists for political parties to campaign in the hinterland must be retracted immediately.
Instead of following the international practice of demobilization, disarmament and re-integration (DDR), Nepal’s Maoists have been permitted to retain the keys of their weapons in storage. Also much of the rebel chain of command and organizational structure remains intact since the rebels have now conveniently transformed themselves into a “political party.” This leads to an uncomfortable yet non-negotiable reality: Maoist fighters (used to ambushing government patrols and cutting off heads) and militia (accustomed to carrying out the verdicts of kangaroo Maoist courts) of the past, are now political cadre of the present.
The burden of educating both the fighters and militia on the definition of competitive, non-violent politics is on the Maoist leadership. All these elements are clearly outlined in the comprehensive peace treaty and there’s no turning back.
In theory, the integration of the rebel rank and file into the Nepali Army shouldn’t be problematic. But the question of integrating the Maoist command and control structure into the army is a whole different story. And this is where the line needs to be drawn. It will be a challenge for both Maoist fighters and army officials to have to bow down to those they have fought for over 10 years. As illogical as this may sound, Maoist rebels in the future national army cannot owe their allegiance to their party as in the past. They must follow orders of their officers who in turn will follow the elected government’s decisions. A dead heat competition whereby the Nepali Congress has already begun placing its “allies” in the Nepali military in key positions should stop immediately in order to avoid a similar trend from the Maoist side.
Whatever the future military will be, it must remain an apolitical tool. What happened to the Nepal Police in the post 1990 scenario cannot be permitted to happen with the national military. The conversion of the new military into a politicized vehicle is simply a call for disaster in the not too distant future. Both the Maoists and the Nepali Congress need to forgo their partisan interests and act in the true spirit of the peace accords by looking out for the national interest.
The most damaging aspect of the Maoist intervention in private industries have been the exploitation of the cause of the laborers. It is true that in Nepal wages are low and working conditions are poor. But instead of allowing normal trade union activity to rectify anomalies in the labor and management relations, Maoist affiliated trade unions have put unreasonably high demands on industries.
Besides levying such unrealistic demands, laborers have been motivated to take law into their own hands and to engage in borderline criminal activities (like taking management staff hostage). Instead of resorting to force, Maoist affiliated trade unions need to instruct their workers to negotiate, not dictate terms.
Maoists, by giving unrealistic assurance of unreasonably high wages to workers, have exploited very real and legitimate grievances of Nepal’s working class. The goal has been to expand the Maoists’ political base by increasing its membership. With the comprehensive peace agreement now in place, the Maoists need to reconcile with the fact that it is private sector led development that is the norm, not cheap plays at public manipulation that have no economic basis for sustenance.
The signing of the comprehensive peace treaty is the beginning of a new era for Nepal. Regardless of political affiliation, class, caste, ethnic or religious background, this is an initial victory for the whole country.
The biggest victory of all is that the onus of implementing the agreements now rests squarely is the hands of our social democratic Maoist leaders. The king is spent, the Maoist 40 point demands (minus those they have removed owing to India’s significant contributions to the Maoists’ rise to power) have been largely filled. Now it’s the Maoists’ turn to demonstrate their hold on their cadre and to show the world how trust worthy they truly are.
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