New tumult in Nepal as premier quits
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Nepal's prime minister announced his resignation yesterday on national TV, setting off political tumult in the young democracy and evoking unpleasant memories of riots and street demonstrations in late 2006.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Nepal's prime minister announced his resignation yesterday on national TV, setting off political tumult in the young democracy and evoking unpleasant memories of riots and street demonstrations in late 2006.
The showdown has been brewing for weeks but came to a head Sunday when Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the largest parliamentary group, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), fired the head of the army.
At issue was an agreement under which former Maoist militants would be allowed to join the army. The military has strongly resisted this move, prompting Dahal's decision to sack the top officer.
The direct challenge did not sit well with President Ram Baran Yadav, who officially leads the army, prompting him to block the firing. This in turn prompted other political parties in the ruling coalition to withdraw their support yesterday, leading to the prime minister's resignation.
"It may play out in Parliament or on the street. We'll have to see what happens," Sadhana Ghimire, a professor at the Kathmandu School of Law, said in a phone interview.
The Maoists have the most members in the national assembly but need the support of smaller parties to stay in control of the government.
In his resignation speech, Dahal said he was leaving to "create a conducive environment and save the peace process," adding that the president's actions in reinstating army chief Rookmangud Katawal were a "fatal attack on the infant democracy."
If the standoff is not resolved quickly, analysts fear the broader peace deal could be in jeopardy. That accord ended a decade-long civil war and brought the Maoists out of the jungle and into the government.
After the prime minister's announcement yesterday, authorities banned protests in parts of Kathmandu, including areas around the president's residence and office, while police in riot gear were deployed across the city.
On Sunday, thousands of protesters on both sides of the dispute hit the streets. So far the two sides have not clashed directly, but authorities said they were not taking any chances.
The situation will not be easy to resolve, analysts said. Under the agreements that ended the civil war, 20,000 Maoist troops should have been merged with the Nepalese army, considered loyal to the country's former king, who was deposed last year by an act of Parliament.
But the army has a deep distrust of the Maoist fighters after years of tough fighting. There are also sensitive social issues. The army draws its ranks from higher castes, while most of the Maoists have more impoverished, rural, and lower-caste roots.
Some predicted the Maoist government would fall. Adding to these woes, Nepal has battled economic ills.
