NEPAL: MAOIST MINISTERS RESIGN FROM INTERIM

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001750

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E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/18/2017
TAGS: PGOV PTER KDEM KSEC NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST MINISTERS RESIGN FROM INTERIM
GOVERNMENT

REF: KATHMANDU 1648

Classified By: Ambassador Nancy J. Powell. Reasons 1.4 (b/d)

Summary
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1. (C) Citing the Interim Government's failure to operate as
agreed, the four remaining Maoist ministers submitted their
resignation to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala the
afternoon of September 18. The Maoists had been threatening
to resign on the 18th if their 22 demands, including the
immediate declaration of a republic by the Interim Parliament
and the adoption of a purely proportional system for the
Constituent Assembly election, were not fulfilled. The
resignations followed several days of talks between the
Maoists and Seven-Party Alliance leaders that culminated in
negotiations between the Maoist chief Pushpa Dahal
("Prachanda") and PM (and Nepali Congress President) Koirala,
Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist General
Secretary M.K. Nepal and Nepali Congress - Democratic

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President Sher Bahadur Deuba. According to Embassy sources,
the Prime Minister has not yet accepted the resignations and
talks are likely to continue. Politicians are concerned,
however, that the situation could deteriorate and the Maoists
would also withdraw from the Interim Parliament and boycott
the election and the peace process. The mass Maoist rally in
central Kathmandu going on now is being watched closely for
an indication of what will happen next.

Maoist Ministers Tender Resignation
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2. (C) The four remaining Maoist ministers in Nepal's
eight-party Interim Government submitted a collective letter
of resignation to Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on the
afternoon of September 19 according to Embassy sources. The
four ministers are: Minister of Information and Communication
(and cabinet spokesman) Krishna Bahadur Mahara; Minister of
Local Development Dev Gurung; Minister of Physical Planning
and Works Hisila Yami (who is the wife of senior Maoist
leader Dr. Baburam Bhattarai); and Minister of Women,
Children and Social Welfare Khadga Bahadur Biswokarma. The
fifth Maoist minister in the 23-member cabinet, Minister for
Forest and Soil Conservation Matrika Yadav, had already
submitted his resignation on August 2. PM Koirala had
accepted it August 10 (reftel). Like Yadav, Mahara, Gurung,
Yami and Biswokarma cited the failure of the Nepali
Government to work according to the spirit of the November
2006 comprehensive peace accord. Instead it was working in a
"feudalistic and status quo manner."

Maoists Carry Through on Threat
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3. (C) The Maoist leadership had been threatening publicly
for more than a week that the Maoists would leave the
Government on September 18 if their 22 demands were not met.
These demands included, most notably, an insistence that the
Interim Parliament declare Nepal a republic as well as that
the election system for the Constituent Assembly election be
changed from a mixed system of first-past-the-post and
proportional seats to a purely proportional system. The
Maoist threat had led to a series of negotiations over the
preceding days between the Maoists and their Seven-Party
Alliance coalition partners. These talks culminated in
so-called "four-party" talks the morning of September 18 at
the Prime Minister's residence in Baluwatar which included
Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal ("Prachanda"),Prime Minister
(and Nepali Congress President) Koirala, Communist Party of
Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) General Secretary
M.K. Nepal and Nepali Congress - Democratic President Sher
Bahadur Deuba. According to Embassy sources, the Prime
Minister had proposed that the eight parties make a public
commitment to a republic in advance of the election, to be
followed by an official act on the first day the Constituent
Assembly convenes. M.K. Nepal had told the Ambassador

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September 17 that the parties might make this commitment on
September 18. According to press reports, Nepal suggested
September 18 that the Interim Parliament could pass a
resolution affirming that commitment, but the Maoists still
chose to walk out of the talks.

Resignations Not Yet Accepted; Talks To Continue
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4. (C) According to Embassy contacts in the Nepali Congress,
the CPN-UML, and the Nepali Congress - Democratic,
Seven-Party Alliance leaders are discussing whether the Prime
Minister should accept the resignations. They have all
indicated to post that talks are likely to continue in the
coming days with the Maoists in an effort to persuade them
not to leave the Government. (Note: Under the Interim
Constitution, the Prime Minister is not required to accept
the resignation. End note.) Peace process observer Padma
Ratna Tuladhar told Emboff the afternoon of September 18 that
the Maoists had not yet indicated that they would leave the
Interim Parliament or boycott the election. He expressed
concern, however, that the security situation would
deteriorate and that the entire peace process would be
undermined. Seven-Party Alliance leaders have voiced similar
concerns.

Mass Maoist Rally Closely Watched
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5. (C) The Maoists had previously organized a mass rally in
central Kathmandu's Kula Manch ("Open Theater") starting at 2
p.m. (local time) September 18 to launch a protest program --
or, alternatively, Dahal had publicly proclaimed -- an
election program -- depending on the outcome of the talks.
According to police reports, as of 3 p.m., based on Nepal
police reports, approximately 25,000 Maoists had gathered at
Kula Manch. Dahal, who is suffering from arthritis, did not
address the gathering, but his deputy Dr. Baburam Bhattarai,
is. Embassy contacts expressed anxiety that the program
could turn violent and were watching the news closely. Nepal
Radio reports that Bhattarai told the crowd, "The third
people's movement has started from today. The time for
negotiations at the Prime Minister's house and at Singha
Durbar (note: The seat of the government and the Parliament)
is over. Now we will start talking from the streets."

Comment
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6. (C) The upshot of the September 18 collective resignation
of the four Maoist ministers in Nepal's interim government is
not yet clear. It is certainly possible that the resignation
is a pressure tactic by the Maoists to boost their leverage
in obtaining ironclad guarantees of a significantly stronger
outcome from the upcoming Constituent Assembly election than
they are currently likely to obtain through the polls.
According to a leading civil society figure, Nabindra Raj
Joshi, who is head of the Ganesh Man Singh Academy, the
Maoists were initially demanding 83 seats in the 497-member
CA. Now they are prepared to accept 40. We suspect that the
Maoist demand for a purely proportional system may be an
election ploy to recoup the Maoists' poor standing with
ethnic minorities and indigenous groups. The Maoists may
also have assessed, logically, that they can run a stronger
campaign as an opposition party, outside the government.
What we all hope this does not mean is that the Maoists now
intend to boycott the election and, perhaps, the peace
process as a whole. Only the next few days will answer these
crucial questions. Post will continue to monitor closely and
report developments.
POWELL