The Maoists have withdrawn their indefinite strike following intense international pressure, on the day that Nepal’s professional organisations and businesses staged a mammoth peace rally in Kathmandu and as resistance spread across the country.
The announcement was made after the party’s standing committee meeting on Friday at 9:15, and was announced as breaking news on all TV channels. Cheers were heard going up in neighbourhoods around the capital.
The Maoists have said they have only “postponed” the Tesro Jana Andolan and thanked the “janata” for their support and solidarity.
“Our protest will now take a different nature and we reserve the right to resume the indefinite strike at a later date,” Pushpa Kamal Dahal told the media. He announced demonstrations on Saturday noon in metros around the country. On Sunday there is a program to encircle Singha Darbar “until the current puppet government steps down”.
It is not yet clear what was the final straw that made the Maoists withdraw the strike, but reports on television of Maoist YCL attacking peace rallies across the country probably convinced the leadership that the strike may be going out of control. There were also indications that the anti-strike citizen’s demonstrations were to spread across the country.
The flurry of diplomatic meetings between Dahal and the diplomatic community on Thursday and Friday may have also contributed. The standing committee met soon after Dahal met ambassadors from Denmark, Switzerland, the United States and India. The Norwegian ambassador had initiated a mediation effort of his own in his residence in Bhaisepati on Thursday evening.
It is also not yet clear what the Maoists will get in return, although there are reports that a “package deal” on integration, constitution and power sharing will be announced Sunday.
Go back to previous page
Peace is the winner today. Hurry.
Great news!! Now prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal should step down and pave way for consensus!
This comment has been removed by the moderator.
Quick!!!! Tell us more.
It is a good news, but do not be so euphoric. It is a temporary respite. I do not see Maobaddies reforming itself as a civillian outfit anytime soon. Warmongers still carry the majority in this Stalinist outfit. Nepalese deserve peace there is no doubt about it.
Now, Madav K Nepal should gracefully submit his resignation and let someone more capable take over the helm, and remove all obstacles to peace and constitution. JD
Congratulations to the citizens for their peace rally today, that is the straw that broke the camel’s back. But let’s be vigilant and let no party now on take the people for granted and punish us in our own name. Kiran L
I am not sure why everyone is hell bent to see MKN resign. I am not saying he is a very capable premier, but who replaces him? I don’t see any knight in shining armor….and moreover, what will be the use?…it will be like reinventing the wheel again…start from the scratch….obviously, the leaders must have gotten some lesson from seeing the people out in the streets, maybe they’ll change (for a change)?
“One step backwards and two steps forwards” this is what the Maoist will follow. They won good will of the international lords and also made good their diminishing return. They will replenish their war chest adequately and move forwards two steps to achieve their goal. The Nepalese Maoists are an untiring lot.
Now without loosing any time, Madhav Nepal must post haste submit his resignation letter to the President. And the President must accept the same and ask the political parties to form a united national government according to the Interim Constitution. Until then Madhav Nepal Government must remain care taker in order to avoid any kind of vacuum.
In street fights whoever boxes first is the winner. As I see it, the Maoist won the round.
By the way I wonder what these western overlords would do if such a situation prevailed in their own countries?
It is indeed good news that they have decided to withdraw the strike. The have to realize that in a civilized world there is no scope for terror, violence and intimidation. The general puplic of Nepal has once again shown the world that we have had enough of this BS from the Maobadi. I hope they realize they are not the favourites anymore. Its time they joined mainstrem politics and do away with their YCL and Combatants. We are in the top ten poorest countries of the world and we cannot resort to closing the nation. Mao’s have to realize they were in the government but they quit. If they want to form the government they have to secure 2/3 majority in the house in compliance of the current constitution of Nepal. It does not matter if they have the most seats in the parliment because its still short of the 2/3 seats in the parliment. We need to have referendum on monarchy and let the people decide if they want monarchy or not and also draft the new constitution of nepal followed by re-elections under the strictest observation of the United Nations and the World Community only then can we take our first step towards progress.
Maoists must have run out with their ration supplies miserably…spare the chuira and masalas….now their men can go home and plow their fields with ease before it gets terribly dry and the old folks can go home and take rest…thanks for their efforts…and our ass can write a good story for the weekend…coz i can’t laugh in a bad mood…and MKN and his cabinet needn’t worry to reach their offices on Sunday…let PKD and his gang down their leftover whiskey and sleep too…dream power sharing…mili mili dal-bhat khawu mora ho!!
Is it so….. Hmmm… then its feels alot better to go out again . Hurray !!!
Well done to the courageous citizens of Nepal who participated in the peace rally. Your numbers and voice echoed through the nation eventually got through to the Maoists about their unpopular move and that they don’t actually always speak for the people as they claim.
The Maoist backing down like this is very monumental politically and shows a weakness in their abilities to forcefully get what they want. This must be a huge upset for their Maoist cadres on the street mostly violent young males, politically indoctrinated with extreme views to actually witness thousands of people, from all walks of life, standing up against them and their bandha peacefully across the nation.
The Maoist politicians have now shown weakness in having to back down again. Their positions on the negotiation table have also weakened as the threat of a second nationwide bandha will not have the same sense of fear as this one was. The Maoists have started to lose possible weapons in their political armory to throw at the Government and will have to accept negotiations on an even or slightly weakened position.
Well done to the people of Nepal.
Shanti!
Jai Nepal!
[...] Friday, May 7th, 2010 (Nepali Times) [...]
When you, in the very first line, pontificate “following intense international pressure” on what essentially is a subjective conjecture, you not only undermine the Nepali polity, but also do volumes to legitimize the scornful “foreign hand “ in Nepali politics.
[...] Friday, May 7th, 2010 (Nepali Times) [...]
Not sure why some here have commented that the Maoists won this round. They pledged to uphold the strike until MKN resigned. . . but he hasn’t and they were forced to withdraw their strike due to increasing domestic and international pressure.
Furthermore, the domestic pressure was a truly spontaneous one with the citizens of KTM rising up out of anger, frustration, and disgust for the Maoists having made life a living hell for the very people they were purportedly representing. Now, the poor villagers who were forced at gun-point by the Maoists to come to the capital and join the protests can return to their homes and begin planting their crops.
Certainly the Maoist cadres were also growing tired and running out of food but, make no mistake: PKD, BB, & the other Maoist leaders realised that the peace rally was a real people’s revolt and was soon going to spread across the country. It occurred to them that people might come to know that they, the Maoists, weren’t really representing the public’s interest but, rather, their own short-sighted political goals.
WE, the PEOPLE have finally prevailed. We will not be black mailed, extorted & kept on self-imposed exiles within our homes while our kids cannot go to school, cannot conduct business, cannot even get water to quench our thirst, cannot go to the markets to get food & milk for our babies & cannot take our sick & the elderly to the hospital. This is a stern warning to the powers to be that might does not come from barrel of a gun, but, from the polity. It is time to finish the business of CA, dismantle it & have an efficient Parliament. A country of our size does not require 680 CA members. They are a drain on national resources. Lets withhold their pay & perks until they finish the CA business. You get paid after you deliver. This should be the new Contract with Nepal.
It is not the domestic/international pressure they have had to succumbed to but the shortage of food supply. Where on earth can they afford to feed thousands of mouths when they have shut the roads and vehicles.
I am not a MKN fan but I don’t think he should submit his resignation just yet. If he did, the maoist will topple any other govt from the streets again in the future. Stay put MKN and do what you’re assigned to do.
Every thunders do not bring rain. Every single time UCPN(Maoists), intentionally tend to popularize their slogans, whatsoever, gathering children and aged forcibly. They walk to nowhere but towards displacing parties and people who do not favor them. This time, beyond their pipe dream of bagging a lot, they are chased empty-handed by locals here and there. This is what compelled them to withdraw the riots! To claim that they aren’t yet ready to surrender, people will see their weird bhajans on the alleyways for some more days.
Indeed a good news… at last we get to breath a sigh of relieve… peace was definitely a winner…
Salute to the public!!! This is a people’s victory. People gave a very strong slap to the Maoists and it is going to echo for a long time. It shows that slowly people are coming out and asserting when NC and UML failed to do so.
The participation of people in the so called “Tesro Jana Andolan” was the cause of the failure of the strike. It has once again proved that bringing people from outside does not insure the success of a movement; it has to cash into the people’s anxiety for the change and a feeling that he/she is the part of the movement and his/her future depends on it.
The maoists not only failed to address people but failed to ignite its base. This is the reality and the maoists have to understand it. Because of their open pigheadedness and lust for power, they exposed themselves to the charges that they had been pointing to NC and UML.
Now it is the time for NC and UML to go bold. They should further cement their political understanding and further marginalize the maoists. This the their last chance to get the support of people.
This feels good: just like with Janandolan I and II, Nepalese have shaken the confidence and arrogance of people who think they can rule by force. The Shahs are no more kings because of that arrogance and the Maoists will also disappear if they don’t read the writing on the wall and change their behaviour. The withdrawl of the strike was a good move on the part of the Maoists if they did it realizing that being a legal political party requires a behaviour different from that of a underground armed outfit. They can use this to gain confidence of the middle class Nepalese without whose support they will never be the ruling party. They first should stop extorting people period. There can be no excuse for collecting donations with threat of voilence. And of cousre the YCL has to be disbanded. The Mandales brought down the Panches and the YCL will do the same to the Maoists if they are not stopped. For now let’s thank the Maoists for doing the right thing and Nepal and the Kangresis for having the courage to stand up to the Maoist threat of violence.
A fight is won on two grounds, either by winning it completiy or by running away from it by saving your life. The Maoist choosed the later so that they can come back again well prepared. They are following Mao to the book. Playing cat and mouse will never deliver peace . With man like Kiran in their fold,- by the way have you seen the bust of Machhiavelli, the author of “The Prince”,- the tenacity and unscruplousness is well manifested. Until they are quashed once and for all, the rejoicings would be short lived and depression would set in again.
Great victory for public. No one can take away their fundamental rights. This is the right opportunity for paties to settle their differences and right constitution on time.
Nepalis have a very short memory. Come next election, this will be all forgotten.
Forgive, but do not forget.
let’s not get too carried away with the Norwegian .. who can forget their dual role in sri lanka? even though dixit bros want to show as if their masters (foreigners) did it, the credit really goes more to those on the street of basantpur & elsewhere.
This so called “revolution” by the Khao Baddies is far from over…
They’ll be back, better prepared, with better tactics (and antics), they sure can outsmart anyone and don’t give a $#!^ about self dignity and integrity.
Someone pointed out eariler, We, Neps have a very short lived memory! (Hell Yeah!!)
No on’es got the vision like BRB and PKD!!
All they’ve said right now is BRB.. (Be Right Back!)
(We, the people, have to finance the Maoists anyway with our “Voluntary Donation”, Why not put an end to it by hiring some mercenaries to do the final job, finish them once and for all!)
Mao learned the hard lesson. NC and UML should push Mao to disband YCL, return seized properties and right constitution. Mao are in weak position right now. All the oppositions are united.
Govt and political parties should take this opportunity to form national unity govt.
I think the Maoists withdrew their strike after seeing mass amount of reiteration throughout the country. Obviously, the foreign diplomatic interference must also have played some role. I am also sure Prachanda learnt some lesson that he was taking the whole political situation single handedly without any support from other political parties and that his cadres were losing patience and were ready to take violent steps. The words they were using were a serious matter for him and for his party’s future. As a result, Prachanda put off the flame before it burst out. This means he is thinking. Thank god!
[...] Nepali Times: Maoists withdraw strike (7.5.10) [...]
The fundamental question we need to ask… so, now what? Will a resignation from MK Nepal will bring, peace, prosperity and a much awaited new Constitution? Will a Maoist led interim govt. provide that leadership? A party, which has outdated ideology, which no other country in the world wants and which has failed its people wll over the world, do we want that party to move us forward? I think w need to think twice before we let them takeover us again! MKN may not be the right leader for us, nor is PKD… so, what next? If you have seen Nepali politics for the past 20 years, I will leave it to your imagination!!!
Monkey athwa (bandar) charitra bhaeko le na aphnu ghar banuchha na aruko ghar banaunu dinchha
Nepal has suffer a lot, the nonviolence approach only bring the nation on track, even in Maoist leadership many leaders and cadres love the best competitive way
in politics to bring the life of people up.But personal personality collision and selp propagated ego making every achievement worst.The whole world is against dictatorship of any modality.
Humanitarian healing will take many decades to heal up. prior to that successor
mightn’t be in position to sustained hence consensus the best way to be for ever.