NEPAL'S POLITICAL PARTIES' ATTEMPT TO RE-OPEN

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000978

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR SA/INS, DS/IP/SA, AND DS/DSS/ITA
LONDON FOR CGURNEY
NSC FOR MILLARD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV CASC ASEC NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL'S POLITICAL PARTIES' ATTEMPT TO RE-OPEN
PARLIAMENT TURNS VIOLENT

REF: KATHMANDU 961


1. (U) On May 28, Nepal's political parties marched on the
Parliament House in an attempt to reconvene the dissolved
House of Representatives for two days of meetings. Each of
the five parties participating in the day's protest held
seats prior to Parliament's dissolution in 2002, including
the Nepali Congress (NC),the Communist Party of Nepal-United
Marxist Leninist (UML),People's Front Nepal (PFN),Nepal
Workers and Peasant's Party (NWPP),and the Nepal Sadbhavana
Party (NSP). Support for the parties' efforts was not
universal. The palace-aligned Rastriya Pajatantra Party
(RPP) General Secretary, Kamal Thapa, stated that his party
would not participate in the march, preferring to remain
neutral. Former Speaker of Parliament Tara Nath Ranabhat and
former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba also refused to
participate, explaining that this would set a bad precedent
for future parliaments and is unconstitutional.


2. (U) Embassy sources report that the leaders of the
political parties, including former Prime Ministers G.P.
Koirala (NC) and Mahdav Nepal (UML),headed the procession to
the Parliament House (which is collocated with the Prime
Minister's office and most government offices in a walled
complex) but were prevented from entering by security
personnel. The parties then activated their alternate plan
to open their session in the Royal Nepal Academy, roughly 2
kilometers north of Parliament. During the travel to the
alternate site, the party cadres reportedly became violent,
throwing rocks and bricks at passing vehicles. The police
used baton charges and tear gas to disperse the protesters.
The Embassy has received no reports of American Citizens
caught in this latest protest; however, the RSO has sent a
Security Notice through the warden system advising American
Citizens to avoid the area.


3. (SBU) Comment: The political parties' demonstration
today is a continuation of their joint protest (reftel)
against the King's appointment of an interim government in
October 2002. Today's particular aim was to reestablish a
constitutional body that could prompt a showdown with the
King. The protest's descent into violence is another
demonstration of the parties' inability to articulate a
constructive role for themselves in Nepal's political
landscape. The violence also mars the fiftieth anniversary
celebrations marking Sir Edmund Hillary's and Tenzing
Norgay's ascent of Everest.
BOGGS