NEPAL: POLITICAL PARTIES AGREE ON NEED FOR "JOINT

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000137

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: POLITICAL PARTIES AGREE ON NEED FOR "JOINT
STRUGGLE"; LITTLE ELSE

REF: A. (A) 02 KATHMANDU 1932


B. (B) 02 KATHMANDU 1988

C. (C) 02 KATHMANDU 2437


1. (U) On January 22 the leaders of four political parties,
including the two largest--the Nepali Congress and the
Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist
(UML)--announced they had decided to initiate a "joint
struggle" to protest King Gyanendra's October 4 dismissal of
the previous government and his subsequent appointment of an
interim Cabinet (Refs A and B). Details of exactly what this
"struggle" will entail, however, remain sparse.


2. (SBU) UML Central Committee Member Bharat Mohan Adhikari
told us the four parties have formed a joint task force
charged with drafting a policy paper suggesting peaceful
programs and strategies to protect democracy, reactivate the
Constitution, which the parties maintain was neutralized by
the King's fiat, and "stop retrogression." (Besides the
heavy-hitting Nepali Congress and the UML, the other two
signatories are the left-wing Peasants and Workers Party and
People's Front Nepal, which had a total of seven MPs in the
previous Parliament. The National Democratic Party and the
Nepal Sadbhavana Party, the parties of the current interim
Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively, were
notably excluded from the deliberations and the final
agreement.) Adhikari said the movement will later seek
participation from the National Democratic Party and the
Nepal Sadbhavana. Once their strategies and programs are
developed, the four parties plan to approach King Gyanendra
to request him to hand over executive power to an all-party
government.


3. (SBU) NC Spokesman Arjun Narasingh K.C. echoed the UML's
points about developing a joint strategy, adding that the
task force will also agree on a common "bottom line" the
parties will demand from the King. So far, however, that
agreement continues to elude the parties, K.C. acknowledged,
as the Nepali Congress' proposal that the former Parliament
be reinstated is not supported by any of the other three
parties, who are demanding an all-party government instead.
The parties may have to compromise on their respective
demands to reach such an agreement, K.C. suggested. He added
that substantive work by the task force will have to be
deferred until after the February 1 UML general convention.


4. (SBU) People's Front Nepal Party Secretary Himlal Puri
emphasized that the joint movement, whatever its eventual
outline, will be peaceful. Besides pressuring the King to
rectify a move the parties regard as unconstitutional, the
joint movement will also ask the Maoists to stop killing
innocent people and destroying infrastructure.


5. (SBU) Comment: The parties can agree that they dislike
the King's action in appointing and installing an interim
non-party government; just what they can and should do about
it obviously remains a point of considerable uncertainty,
however. Nepali Congress Party President G.P. Koirala
continues to insist on the reinstatement of Parliament, even
though the Supreme Court has already ruled the May 22
dissolution was constitutional and even though no other party
supports that position. Spokesman Arjun K.C.'s conciliatory
comments notwithstanding, we have so far seen or heard little
from the upper ranks of the Nepali Congress that would
indicate a willingness to accommodate other views on this
matter. Earlier indications that the UML might reach an
understanding with the Palace (Ref C),meanwhile, appear to
have been squelched for now by a virulent internal power
struggle within the party that can become only more
contentious as the date of the upcoming UML general
convention nears. Political parties in Nepal do not enjoy a
strong tradition of cooperation and collaboration--even
within their own organizations. We expect it will be some
time before the parties can reach more substantive mutual
agreement on the elements of this much-hyped initiative.
MALINOWSKI