KATHMANDU, Sept 19 (AFP): Nepal's Maoists launched a campaign Wednesday against crucial polls set for November, a day after storming out of the government demanding the immediate abolition of the monarchy.
The former rebels had four ministers in government who resigned Tuesday, a major blow to the 10-month-old peace process in the impoverished Himalayan country.
"We are starting our door-to-door campaign Wednesday and now we aim to bring about a republic from street protests," Ananta, a deputy commander in the Maoist army, told AFP.
The Maoists are embarking on a three-week protest programme that includes strikes and demonstrations, aimed at derailing polls to elect a body to rewrite the constitution and decide the future of Nepal's monarchy.
"All our sister organisations will be mobilised from Wednesday to ensure the constituent assembly elections are unsuccessful," said Ananta, who is also a member of the Maoist central committee.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has a number of ethnic and caste supporter groups as well as the feared Young Communist League, whose members are frequently accused of thuggish, violent behaviour.
The party of ex-insurgents, who signed a landmark peace deal last November, says that holding the polls will be meaningless unless the monarchy is abolished because royalists plan to disrupt the vote.
Although they have left the government, the Maoists were continuing to hold discussions with the seven other mainstream parties in the defunct coalition, said Dev Gurung, who had served as local development minister until Tuesday.
"We can hold protests and talks in parallel," said Gurung.
Maoists launch crusade against Nepal polls
FE Team | Published: September 20, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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