POLTICOS PONDER JUNE 2 PEACEFUL MAOIST RALLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 001438 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2016 TAGS: PGOV PTER NP SUBJECT: POLTICOS PONDER JUNE 2 PEACEFUL MAOIST RALLY REF: KATHMANDU 1405 Classified By: Ambassador James F. Moriarty. Reasons 1.4 (b/d). POLITICAL LEADERS: MAOIST RALLY WAS PEACEFUL; PUSHING FOR CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY -------------- -------------- ¶1. (C) Three days after the Maoists' June 2 mass-rally in Kathmandu (reftel),red flags and posters were beginning to come down around the capital, but there was little public recognition of the massive first public demonstration by the Maoists as a significant event. Politicos agreed that the gathering was peaceful, but differed as to its meaning. Bharat Mohan Adhikari, Central Committee Member of the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), speculated that the gathering signaled that the Maoists were in favor of a competitive democratic process. Govinda Raj Joshi, Central Committee Member of the Nepali Congress (NC), opined that the Government of India (GOI) might have pressured the Maoists to conduct the meeting peacefully. He explained that the Maoists wanted to exhibit their strength to exert pressure on Prime Minister G.P. Koirala and other members of the seven-party alliance to hold elections to a constituent assembly as soon as possible. Lilamani Pokharel, Vice-President of the People's Front Nepal (PFN),an extreme left party, said the Maoists had gathered people from adjoining districts near Kathmandu as a demonstration of their popular support in the provinces. He agreed that the rally was held to push the Maoist agenda of constituent assembly elections. Pokharel noted that the June 2 rally was much bigger than any ever held by the seven-party alliance. ¶2. (C) Kashi Nath Adhikari, Central Committee Member, CPN-UML, stated that the Maoist rally brought a mixed-bag of people. He said some had come of their own free will and participated enthusiastically, some had been forced to attend, others had considered it a free trip to see the capital city, while others had been curious just to see the Maoist leaders. Many editorials also praised the rally as being peaceful, even as other articles in their pages reported that the Maoists had coerced participation and commandeered vehicles. COMMENT -------------- ¶3. (C) Observers' emphasis on the rally's peacefulness again signals the widespread fear that the rally could have turned violent. It also conveniently ignores the open secret that the Maoists continued with their tried and true tactics of threats and intimidation to pursue their agenda. But contrary to Maoist hopes, the impressive display of organization did not appear to intimidate or further destabilize the government. MORIARTY