NEPAL: MAOIST WOMAN ELECTED VICE CHAIR OF ASSEMBLY

C O N F I D E N T I A L KATHMANDU 001257 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/03/2018 TAGS: PGOV PTER PHUM KDEM KWMN NP SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST WOMAN ELECTED VICE CHAIR OF ASSEMBLY Classified By: Deputy Chief of Mission Randy W. Berry. Reasons 1.4 (b/ d). Maoist Subedi Elected CA Vice Chairman -------------- ¶1. (U) On November 28, a sizable majority of Nepal's Constituent Assembly (CA) elected a Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) woman Member of Parliament (MP),Purna Subedi, as Vice Chairman. In the fourth round of voting on single candidates, Subedi received the support of 346 MPs from four of the six parties in the governing coalition, including the Maoists, and the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML),as well as from some minor parties, but not the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF). (Note: Out of a total current membership of 593, 505 members took part in the voting. End note.) Prior rounds had failed to produce majorities for three minor party contestants. Since Subedi received a majority, voting did not proceed on the remaining two minor party candidates. The Nepali Congress (NC),UML and MPRF did not nominate candidates for the post; all but one of the candidates was a woman. Immediately following the announcement of her election, Subedi took the oath of office and secrecy from CA Chairman Subash Nemwang (UML). (Note: Although Subash Nemwang was elected CA Chairman unanimously on July 24, the post of vice chairman had remained vacant. End note.) Biography -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Purna Kumari Subedi, a Brahmin, was directly elected as a CA member from Banke-4 (mid-western Nepal) in April ¶2008. She served as an appointed CPN-M member of the Interim Parliament established in January 2007. Subedi was involved with the Maoists throughout the 10-year insurgency and headed the People's Government in Banke District. She was born in 1958 in Lalchaur village of Kaski District (western Nepal) and lived for some years in Chitwan District after her marriage in 1985. Subedi has said her priorities are to assist the landless and to facilitate infrastructure development. Comment -------------- ¶3. (C) According to the Interim Constitution, in the absence of the Chairman the Vice Chairman chairs the Assembly. The position is thus primarily symbolic. Subedi is the second woman to hold the equivalent post. The Deputy Speaker of the Interim Parliament (and of the 1999 Parliament revived in 2006) was also a woman, the NC's Chitra Lekha Yadav. At a time when the Maoists claim to be making overtures to the NC as the second-largest party to join the government, or at least to participate in the decisionmaking process, NC CA Member Nabindra Joshi told Emboff November 28 that party members were disappointed that the Maoists claimed the Vice Chair for themselves. NC ended up not even nominating a candidate when it became apparent that the CPN-M and the UML had agreed that a Maoist would get the nod. POWELL