HoustonChronicle.com - Political crisis, fear grip Nepal

Five months after a coup, the king is no closer to a deal with rebels or political parties
By TERRY FRIEL
Reuters News Service

KATMANDU - It's an hour before midnight and the Go Go Bar is packed with the boisterous sons of Nepal's new middle class stuffing cash into dancers' panties.

Katmandu is humming, its young people spending big on drugs, disco and drink.

But while the capital parties, Nepal is paralyzed by a political crisis and an increasingly bloody Maoist rebellion aiming to oust King Gyanendra, who seized power in February, ending 15 years of democracy.

'Nobody knows what will happen — a kind of terror still exists,' says human rights campaigner Krishna Pahadi, freed this month after being held for 143 days in a police camp. 'There is a climate of fear. The rule of law is totally demolished.'

Gyanendra said he was forced to take over because the politicians were incapable of quelling the Maoists' 'People's War,' which has killed at least 12,500 people since 1996. But five months on, he is no closer to a deal with the guerrillas or with the seven mainstream political parties.

The political parties are slowly forming a united front and appear to be moving closer to the Maoists.

'The two (parties and rebels) coming together would build up pressure on the king,' says S.D. Muni, a South Asia expert at New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. 'Either he makes compromises, or if he does not, then I think Nepal will see a lot of turmoil in coming years.'

But analysts expect no real breakthrough for at least three to four months, when the parties can organize protests after the monsoon and crop-sowing season. The parties have so far failed to rally popular support against the king, despite his increasing unpopularity.

Even before the Feb. 1 royal coup, the Hindu kingdom, one of the world's poorest nations had seen remarkable political instability, with 14 prime ministers in under 15 years.

In fact, for hundreds of years, it has seen bizarre power plays, murder, exile and takeovers between royalty and the upper caste Brahmins and Chettriyas who dominate the still largely feudal country.

Parliament has been dissolved since 2002, when Nepal was supposed to prepare for elections. Gyanendra sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for failing to hold them.

The palace says Gyanendra is popular and adored, but many Nepalis are suspicious of the way he came to power, after his brother, King Birendra, and several other members of the royal family were gunned down by the then-crown prince in 2001. Sphere: Related Content