[R-G] Nepal's Maoists, China, India, the USA, and the World Bank

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

It was once possible to draw a distinction between populists and
socialists, at least in ideology if not in practice.  Socialists could
say, we nationalize the means of production as the first step toward
eventual establishment of classless society, whereas populists respect
the right to private property.  That ideological distinction has
largely broken down, at least since the long Sixties.

<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120966765108660181.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>
Nepal's Maoists Soften Tone, Get Set to Lead
By KRISHNA POKHAREL
May 2, 2008; Page A8

Nepal's Maoists, fresh from winning the most seats of any one party in
the national assembly, are positioning themselves to form a new
government within a few weeks.

Their dramatic victory in last month's elections also has forced the
U.S., India and China to adjust to a new political era in the small
Himalayan nation.

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), which waged a decade-long
rebellion against the state that ended in 2006, won 37% of the seats
in the 601-member assembly. The assembly's main task is to rewrite the
country's constitution and decide on the future of the monarchy, which
has been a powerful force in Nepalese politics for 240 years.

The Maoists are expected to lead a new government of national unity.
They already have decided that their leader, Pushpa Kamal Dahal --
better known as Chairman Prachanda, or "fierce one" -- will be the
next head of the government.

But they have yet to build a consensus among a majority of the other
24 political parties that the Maoists will need to form the next
government. One obstacle is the fact that the Maoists still have a
private army and weapon caches, which are currently under United
Nations-supervised camps. Analysts say that creates legal obstacles
for Mr. Dahal to be the next leader and for the Maoists to lead a
government.

"They will have to deal with these aspects first before even claiming
the leadership of the next government," said Nilambar Acharya, a
political analyst in Katmandu, the capital.

After their strong election showing, the Maoists have softened their
rhetoric against the two nations that are the largest foreign
investors in Nepal: India and the U.S. During their insurgency, Maoist
leaders would frequently refer to "expansionist India" and
"imperialist America." Today, they are striking a conciliatory tone
after promising big economic improvements.

"We want good working relations with neighbors including China and
India, and the Western power centers including the U.S.," said Baburam
Bhattarai, a senior Maoist leader and policy maker, in an interview.
"Our main agenda now is peace, development and stability in Nepal," he
said.

The economy of Nepal -- a country with about 28 million people, most
of them poor -- doesn't have much impact on global affairs. But the
country is in an important geopolitical location -- sandwiched between
India and China -- and the Maoists' emergence as Nepal's most powerful
political party is forcing some diplomatic rethinking.