Strikers on the streets of Kathmandu

After a huge May Day rally on Saturday, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) launched a massive general strike aimed at forcing the resignation of the government.

Although Maoist led, the strike is supported by the majority of workers, and so far has been really successful. Strikers have surrounded the Prime Minister’s residence. They have brought thousands of the country’s poorest people to protest in the capital Kathmandu, a move which has horrified the traditional elite, unused to seeing such ethnic diversity on the street.

Nepal was traditionally a monarchy, where the vast majority lived in stark poverty, and there were sharp divisions and discrimination between different ethnic groups and castes. In 1996, the Maoists launched an armed rebellion with the aim of bringing down the monarchy and establishing a new Nepal in which there would be more direct democracy, and the government brought an end to poverty and discrimination.

Following the success of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army in fighting the Royal Nepalese Army (which is armed and trained by both Britain and the US), a peace accord was negotiated, and in 2008 Nepal became a republic. In elections held that year, the Maoists came out on top, and headed a coalition government. The results showed how much support they had built in the areas of the country that were under their control. In these regions they had seized land from absentee landlords for the benefit of the people, as well as building roads, widening access to health and education, given people a direct say in their local government and started a campaign against ethnic and caste discrimination.

Nice hat, shame about your government: Nepali Prime Minister MK Nepal

The elections were to a constituent assembly that was supposed to write a new constitution, transforming Nepal into a democratic, federal republic, in which the rights of minority peoples were recognised. However, when the Maoists tried to sack the head of the army, who is a western-educated General responsible for leading counter-insurgency operations during the war, they were overriden by the President. The Maoist led government resigned in protest.

The current government, which has not been elected, is an alliance of the centrist Congress party and other Communist parties, and is headed by Madhav Kumar Nepal. They pledged to write a new constitution for Nepal within two years, a deadline which will expire later this month.

In the meantime, Maoists supported minority ethnic groups in declaring autonomous states, and have also supported revolutionary students who have shut down 8000 private schools in protest at hikes in tuition fees. Now, with the deadline for a new constitution on May 28th fast approaching, they’ve launched a mass protest movement to demand the government resigns and the Maoists are returned to power, in order to remake the state on the lines demanded by the country’s poor majority.

The Maoists have said they do not intend to seize full power at this point, but are more interested in pushing forward the process of writing a new constitution. They have also pledged that the strike will not use violence, although strikers are prepared to defend themselves if attacked by the government. Nevertheless, if the situation continues on for several days, what happens next is uncertain. The government has already been consulting the army on the possibility of using force to crush the people, with the support of military “advisers” from India and the US. The PM declared the protests would be “suicide” for the Maoists, but his words look hollow compared to the mobilisation on the streets. One reason they haven’t been able to do this so far is that the loyalty of rank and file soldiers to their commanders is far from guaranteed if they were ordered to fire on ordinary Nepalis.

The government so far looks determined to cling to power, although how long they can do this in the face of a mass shutdown of the country by the people remains to be seen. The next few days look set to determine the future history of Nepal, and nobody is sure what will happen next.

Bonuses: A good source for keeping up to date on the situation in English is this blog, by an American Communist living in Kathmandu.

Here’s some footage of the massive May Day protest in Kathmandu: