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Nepal: State Building & Democracy

Nepal: State Building & Democracy. Harinda Vidanage PhD. By the time India and Pakistan were formed in 1947, Nepal had been an independent state for more than a century. Politically unified in mid 18 th Century and ruled by Shah dynasty

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Nepal: State Building & Democracy

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  1. Nepal: State Building & Democracy Harinda Vidanage PhD

  2. By the time India and Pakistan were formed in 1947, Nepal had been an independent state for more than a century. • Politically unified in mid 18th Century and ruled by Shah dynasty • After confrontations and defeat by the British signed the treaty of Sagauli in 1816. • British did not formally absorb the Kingdom but maintained it as an independent buffer state between the Indian empire and China.

  3. Nepal’s location between two civilizations has in many ways shaped its distinctive history and society. • Modern Nepal a Hindu state, three major groups of identities: Tibeto-Burman, Indo Aryans and Newari people. • Caste identities based on Indo Aryan caste distinction is prelevant and has seeped into political discourse

  4. Till 2006 Nepal Was a Hindu Kingdom, constitutions of 1959, 1962 and 1990 declared that Nepal is a Hindu Kingdom. • There has been resistance to this ideology, 2006 parliament decaled Nepal as a secular state. • Hindu the largest religious group more than 80%

  5. Slow modernization and harsh terrain and slow penetration of colonial capitalism. • Major dependency on external forces given the landlocked situation • Dependency on India for trade, Chinese Influence/ Tibet: both relationships challenging in forging a distinctive Nepali identity.

  6. Democratic experience can be understood through more of the internal political machinations rather than external • India did play significant role and recent Chinese influence. • Political elites: from conservatives to leftists eternal tussle for power with the King. • http://countrystudies.us/nepal/

  7. Historical formations of modern politics/polity • Involvement of Nepali activists in the Indian national movement as members of Indian National Congress or Communist Party of India • Nepali National congress formed by B.P. Koirala (Jan 1947) • 1951 regime arrangement and Indian presence • 1959 Parliament election NPC win outright majority with 74 out of 109 seats, yet parliament dismissed by the King in December 1960. Thus strengthening of the monarchy continues. • 1960 King Mahendra bans all political parties • 1990 , transformation of the absolute monarchy into a constitutional one and introduction of multiparty democracy

  8. In 1960 King Mahendra terminated the Government, dissolved the Parliament and banned political parties. He promulgated the ‘Panchayat’ system where individual candidates stood as representatives of sectional groups, not parties. It was a front for the exercise of royal power. The parties went underground, with their leaders in exile in India.

  9. Mahendra believed democratic ideologies and parliamentary institutions were products of Western culture and not suitable to be installed in Nepal • This is why in 1962 he introduced the ‘Panchayat system’ a popular system based on indirect elections and representative of regional bodies, this was an attempt to introduced guided democracy. • Panchayat system was opposed by political parties and activists thus prompting in 1979 for a referendum for the overhaul of the system by King Birendra, yet Panchayat system prevailed with a marginal victory. Though the system was expanded the Kind remained sovereign monarch

  10. 1990 political uprising In 1990 the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist UML) combined with other parties to campaign for the reinstatement of democracy. When several demonstrators were shot in the streets of Kathmandu, the King backed down and agreed to hold an election. It was seen as a return to democracy, not its reinvention. The Constitution drawn up in 1959 was revised. It had provided for direct democratic elections and the freedom to form political parties. It contained several clauses that ensured a potentially powerful role for the monarchy

  11. 1990 constitution • The new constitution provided for the election of a House of Representatives with 205 members to be run by an independent Electoral Commission. • In 1991, twelve parties contested the election but the two parties that were to dominate politics in Nepal for the last decade took the majority of seats

  12. 1991 Election • Nepali Congress won 110 seats and the Communist Party of Nepal United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) gained 69. The Nepali Congress leader, Girija Prasad Koirala, brother of the Prime Minister deposed in 1960, became Prime Minister. In 1994 he called a snap election but this time no party had a majority. A third party, the RastriyaPrajatantra Party (RPP), a royalist rump from the Panchayatperiod, was able to exercise the balance of power. The Prime Ministershiprotated several times, even twice to different RPP leaders, as parties and factions within them jockeyed for power. There was no stability, only disillusion with the cynicism of politicians and the failure of democratic governments to bring reform.

  13. Emergence of Maoist group After initially engaging in parliamentary elections, the CPN (United Centre), a coalition of left-wing fragments, walked out of the parliamentary system in 1994 and decided to shift from ‘the ballot to the bullet’. The Maoist leaders concluded that reform could not come through the existing system of royal authoritarianism and a limited parliament. In February 1996 the Maoists commenced a ‘People’s War’, claiming it was the only way to achieve reform. The Maoist insurgency made substantial gains despite the formation of the Armed Police in early 2001 and continued to control large tracts of the country

  14. People’s war 1996-2006 • 1994 Maoists walk out of the government, 1996 peoples war commences. • BaburamBhattarai calls the people's war an epoch-making event in Nepali history. For the first time, the Nepali people had woken up from a deep slumber of semi-colonial and semi-feudal oppression and exploitation • Nepal Royal Massacre June 2001 , installation of King Gayendra Shah as King • King Gayendra ousted from power 2006

  15. Maoists leave mainstream politics • The United People’s Front Nepal (UPFN), a radical splinter group headed by Pushpa Kamal Dahal (or “Prachanda”) and his chief ideologue, BaburamBhattarai, participated in the 1991 general election and secured a surprisingly good result. With 9 seats out of 205, the UPFN became the third largest party in parliament • NC started to use the state apparatus, including the police, to suppress leftist political activities. Numerous UPFN workers were arrested, harassed, and even tortured. This set off a spiral of retaliatory violence between UPFN and NC activists, especially in the remote western hill districts

  16. It is in this volatile context that internal discussions about the suitability of an armed revolution led to the split of the UPFN. Banned from participating in the 1994 general elections, the more radical fraction headed by Prachanda and Bhattarai eventually decided that revolutionary violence would be the best way to change society and establishing communism

  17. Ideological rift with the mainstream Although separate from the more mainstream communist parties, the radical left played an active and vocal role in the 1990 democratic uprising. From the start, however, they openly demanded the abolition of the monarchy and the initiation of a constitutional assembly to draft a “new democratic people’s constitution.” So, to them, the compromise between the mainstream political parties and the palace on a constitutional monarchy came as a big disappointment.

  18. Maoist Insurgency In Nepal, a ‘People’s War’ was declared in February 1996. The objective was to overthrow the old order, which included monarchic and privileged rule by an establishment of landed families and to replace it with a New People’s Democracy. The following years saw the spread of the Maoists from their strongholds in Nepal’s mid-western districts, attacks on the Royal Nepalese Army, thedeployment of the army and the suspension of democratic powers. In 2003 and 2004, Nepal had the highest number of disappearances in the world (Human Rights Watch 2004), and more than 14,000 people have lost their lives since 1996. However, from November 2005.

  19. Political ideology • The Maoists view Nepal as a “semi-feudal and a semi-colonial country” because “nearly ninety percent of the population is engaged in backward agriculture • In their “Plan for the Historical Initiation of the People’sWar,” adopted by the CPN-M Central Committee in September 1995, the Maoists explained that it was their goal to destroy feudalism and imperialism in the country by initiating a “new democratic revolution.” • More advanced political ideology and sophisticated left leadership.

  20. uprising • The CPN-M launched its armed struggle on 13 February 1996, with simultaneous attacks of its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in five districts across the country. • Maoists were able to gain fast-growing support, especially among poor low-cast communities in rural areas. Nevertheless, Nepal’s political establishment did not take the insurgency seriously.

  21. In mid-2001, the insurgents were in almost total control of the mid-western hill districts and active throughout the kingdom. More and more, observers started to talk about the de-facto existence of two parallel states, as the Maoists were effectively controlling many parts of the country. While the district headquarters continued to represent Kathmandu, much of the countryside was Maoist land, governed by local “united people’s committees

  22. Royal Massacre 1st June 2001 • Prince Dipendra goes on rampage killing 9 members of Royal family • His victims included the King Birendra, the Queen, his brother and sister and 5 other members • Anger over refusal for his relationship • Conspiracy theory aiming at Gayendra’s involvement • A crime never solved, no proper investigation, no forensic evidence collected

  23. conspiracy • CIA & RAW combined operation ??

  24. Maoists and Interim government of G.P. Koirala signed a comprehensive peace treaty in November 2006 • On 10 April 2008, Nepal held long anticipated constituent assembly elections. It was the first time in 9 years that the people could cast their vote. Moreover, these elections were a crucial element in the peace deal, signed in 2006, between the government and the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), which ended a decade-long brutal civil war

  25. Battarai regime • “Completing the peace process and preparing the new constitution are my priorities. Number three is providing relief to the people,” Bhattarai (August 2011) • Battarai is Nepal’s 35th Prime Minister, replacing Prachanda (Puspa Kamal Dahal)former PM. • Major Sino-India struggle for access in Nepal contributing ongoing political instability.

  26. Prachanda Maoist leader & former PM

  27. BaburamBattarai current Prime Minister

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