Nepal’s PM quits amid power struggle

NEPAL’S prime minister resigned yesterday amid a power struggle over his firing of the army chief, saying he was stepping down to “save the peace process” that brought the Himalayan nation out of a decade-long civil war.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former Maoist guerrilla leader, made the announcement on television yesterday afternoon, one day after his firing of the army chief was rejected by President Ram Baran Yadav, who officially leads the army, and which caused some key political allies to withdraw from the ruling coalition.

“The unconstitutional and undemocratic move by the president has pushed the country toward a serious political crisis. The president has no power to act alone without prior approval of the cabinet on such matters,” Dahal said in his resignation speech.

“It is a fatal attack on the infant democracy.”

Nepal’s Maoists fought a bloody, 10-year war against the government before joining the political mainstream in 2006, and then winning the elections last year that helped bring an end to the Himalayan country’s centuries-old monarchy. Despite the Maoists’ rise to power, many of their former fighters remain restricted to UN-monitored barracks under a peace accord.

Dahal wanted the guerrillas freed and integrated into the military, as prescribed under a UN-brokered peace agreement, but the army chief resisted those efforts and sparred repeatedly with the government.

Dahal said yesterday he decided to step down “to create a conducive environment and save the peace process.”

After Dahal dismissed Katawal, the Maoist’s main coalition partner, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), and other key coalition members withdrew from the government.

Immediately following the prime minister’s announcement, authorities announced a ban on protests in key parts of Katmandu, including areas around president’s residence and office.

Earlier yesterday, thousands of Maoist supporters rallied in Katmandu, the capital, to show support for the government and denounce the president’s action. Elsewhere in the city, supporters of the main opposition, the Nepali Congress party, blocked traffic with burning tires, chanting slogans against the government and the Maoists. There were no reports of any clashes between the two sides, but Home Ministry official Navin Ghimire said security forces were preparing to deal with unrest.