NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, they haven't officially won yet, but they've already started celebrating.


Nepal's Maoist party has increased its lead as more results are declared from the country's landmark elections.

The former guerrillas have won 40 out of 79 seats declared, well ahead of all other parties, and far more than many analysts had expected.

Partial results suggest a similar lead elsewhere, polling officials said.

The polls, for an assembly tasked with writing a new constitution, are the first to test the Maoists at the ballot box after their 10-year insurgency.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says it is not just the fact that the Maoists are ahead that has caused amazement, but the scale of their lead.

The Maoists have so far won more than three times as many seats as the traditionally powerful Nepali Congress, which is currently in third place.

Many key Maoist leaders have won seats, mostly with very large majorities.

Several senior politicians have lost, including the nephew and daughter of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala and the leader of the traditional second party, the Communist UML, as well as a veteran royalist Prime Minister, Surya Bahadur Thapa, who came third in his seat.

The new assembly is expected to confirm an agreement made in December between the ruling government alliance and former rebels to abolish the 240-year-old monarchy.

The Maoists' leader, known by his nom-de-guerre, Prachandra, called the results a "victory" as he celebrated his win on Saturday in the capital, Kathmandu.

"We are fully committed to the peace process and multiparty democracy and to rebuild this country," he said.

Maoist supporters have been holding victory processions, with red vermillion powder smeared on their faces and red hammer-and-sickle flags in their hands.

The election for the 601-seat assembly is a key element in the peace deal that ended the Maoists' decade-long insurgency.


(link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7344983.stm))

What a surprise.

What a surprise.

Actually, it is:


The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says it is not just the fact that the Maoists are ahead that has caused amazement, but the scale of their lead.

http://www.nouvelordremondial.cc/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/rofl-mao.jpg

Oh great...now Nepal is lost too.

As long as it's all democratic why such a fuss huh? Is everyone expecting the Maoists to pull a Mugabe or Burma and conveniently abolish democracy once they've set up housekeeping?

Oh, and in before Andaras and/or UB singing Commie anthems suddenly praising the virtues of democracy.

In before US/EU pull off a 'we support democracy only if you vote for parties we like' again.

Oh great...now Nepal is lost too.


Yep, another victim of Maoism..

As long as it's all democratic why such a fuss huh? Is everyone expecting the Maoists to pull a Mugabe or Burma and conveniently abolish democracy once they've set up housekeeping?

Because that is usually what happens. Name one country besides Moldova where communists or maoists have come to power and KEPT real democracy..

Name one country besides Moldova where communists or maoists have come to power and KEPT real democracy..

San Marino.

No, seriously. It democratically elected a communist government, which left power peacefully once it lost elections.

Well, you got me :D But to my point, they discard democracy more often than not.

San Marino.

No, seriously. It democratically elected a communist government, which left power peacefully once it lost elections.

Yeah, but these guys are Maoists...Mao didn't exactly seem to be the kind of communist/socialist that was especially keen on democracy, freedom of expression, or even basic human rights. There were certainly worse, but he also did a lot of really pretty awful and damaging things that the contemporary Chinese government has worked to distance itself from.

However, it's possible that a lot of people are simply supporting the Maoists because they dislike the monarchy more.

^I would guess vote-rigging, intimidation etc as well. These maoists were the ones fighting the authority with weapons (Chinese supplied) a while back. Surely, people can be persuaded to vote for them when you have weapons with you.

am i the only one wondering what maoist do to celebrate?

purge a few party members? make some landlords kneel on broken glass while confessing their bourgeois sins? spend the night holding little-red-book quotation contests?

am i the only one wondering what maoist do to celebrate?
Crash a party and share the booze around the party faithful present :p

Well, congrats, Maoists. Unless you cheated, in which case, go climb Mt. Everest naked.

I bet maoists throw the best parties. And they'll always share their liquor! :)

Glory to the worldwide Communist Revolution?

The world's only Hindu monarchy comes to an end. Within 5 years, a 3 century old royal lineage comes to an abrupt and brutal end with no successor, an army disarmed, the traditional loyalist group thrown out of power and we have a group of rebels armed from elsewhere going to ascend to power. Well done China.

Andaras crosses Nepal off his list.

Andaras crosses Nepal off his list.

lol
I love the implication there that you had something to do with it...:rolleyes:

The world's only Hindu monarchy comes to an end. Within 5 years, a 3 century old royal lineage comes to an abrupt and brutal end with no successor, an army disarmed, the traditional loyalist group thrown out of power and we have a group of rebels armed from elsewhere going to ascend to power. Well done China.

To be perfectly fair, China's not the only one responsible for the toppling of the monarchy. One might also remember a certain suicidal prince with a machine gun, and the sequence of events that followed his rampage.

There's a BBC analyst who mainly blames Gyanendra himself for losing his throne (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4953816.stm).

Now we wait and see what Prachandra does. A very large majority of Nepal's citizens have opted to trust him, and have placed their hopes in him. He now has to live up to that trust.

lol
I love the implication there that you had something to do with it...:rolleyes:
All communists are connected by a secret brain chip in which we communicate our devious plans for world domination.

http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/6/6b/Soviets_painting_world_red_with_blood.jpg

All communists are connected by a secret brain chip in which we communicate our devious plans for world domination.

Right, sorry I forgot about that. :D

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aryavartha
The world's only Hindu monarchy comes to an end. Within 5 years, a 3 century old royal lineage comes to an abrupt and brutal end with no successor, an army disarmed, the traditional loyalist group thrown out of power and we have a group of rebels armed from elsewhere going to ascend to power. Well done China.

True, not a good day from the point of view of my personal loyalties...

To be perfectly fair, China's not the only one responsible for the toppling of the monarchy. One might also remember a certain suicidal prince with a machine gun, and the sequence of events that followed his rampage.

Yeah... That was pretty not-good. Though I don't want to see a republic, which is what the Maoists now want, the actions not only of certain princes but of the royalty of Nepal as a whole allowed this to happen though a catalogue of wrong turns and bad calls.

There's a BBC analyst who mainly blames Gyanendra himself for losing his throne.

He didn't help, but things were bad before he accended the throne. :(

Now we wait and see what Prachandra does. A very large majority of Nepal's citizens have opted to trust him, and have placed their hopes in him. He now has to live up to that trust.

The good thing is that it was a decisive vote. The Maosists have a strong mandate and that is important. At least it mimimises the chances of instability. Also no one seems ot be whining and moaning that they were cheated because it so happened that their faction didn't win. Also good.

I guess democracy has worked in that respect this time round. Let us hope it can keep the peace...

Well it's inevitable that the monarchy is gone, the peace deal signed with the Maoists ensured that after the CA elections that the new Constituent Assembly (which it looks like the Maoists will control) will create a new constitution and abolish the monarchy. Nepal at the moment isn't even technically a kingdom, the King had all his power stripped and if you look on wiki the state is simply called 'Nepal', it's an Interim govt to be precise.

The joke is on them... Mao is dead!

At five o'clock in the afternoon of September 2, 1976, Mao suffered another myocardial infarction (heart attack), far more severe than the previous two and affecting much larger area of his heart. His body was giving out. The personal doctors group began emergency treatment immediately. X rays indicated that his lung infection had worsened, and his urine output dropped to less than 300 cc a day. Mao was awake and alert throughout the crisis and asked several times whether he was in danger. His condition continued to fluctuate and his life hung in the balance. Three days later, on September 5 Mao's condition was still critical, and Hua Guofeng called Jiang Qing back from her trip. She spent only a few moments in Building 202 before returning to her own residence in the Spring Lotus Chamber. On the afternoon of September 7, Mao took a turn for the worse. Jiang Qing came to Building 202 where she learned the news. Mao had just fallen asleep and needed the rest, but she insisted on rubbing his back and moving his limbs, and she sprinkled powder on his body. The medical team protested that the dust from the powder was not good for his lungs, but she instructed the nurses on duty to follow her example later. The next morning, September 8, she came again. She wanted the medical staff to change Mao's sleeping position, claiming that he had been lying too long on his left side. The doctor on duty objected, knowing that he could breathe only on his left side, but she had him moved nonetheless. Mao's breathing stopped, and his face turned blue. Jiang Qing left the room while the medical staff put him on a respirator and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Mao revived, and Hua Guofeng urged Jiang Qing not to interfere further with the doctor's work. He died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known in the U.S as Lou Gehrig's Disease and elsewhere as Motor Neurone Disease.

I bolded the slightly amusing parts.

Talk about irrelevant...

Talk about irrelevant...

I would, but it really wouldn't be pertinent to the topic at hand.

I would, but it really wouldn't be pertinent to the topic at hand.
Mao isn't alive, but Prachanda is alive, which is why their ideology is called 'Marxism-Leninism-Maoism-Prachanda Path'.