Nepal pledges elections amid deadly protests

Nepal’s royal government pledged today to hold municipal elections next month despite a boycott by major parties, disruptive demonstrations, the assassination of a candidate and rebel violence that left 26 dead over the weekend.

“We will hold the elections no matter what,” Information Minister Shrish Sumshere Rana said today.

King Gyanendra said he would restore democracy within three years after he seized control of the government last February, promising to crush a bloody insurgency and root out political corruption.

“There is no way by which the government can usurp the right of the people to vote and run for office,” said Rana.

Opposition parties have demanded that the king give up power and restore democracy immediately. They say their participation in the local elections would legitimise the king’s power grab.

Yesterday, rebels apparently carried through for the first time on their threat to take “special action” against candidates and officials taking part in the elections, fatally shooting mayoral candidate Bijaya Lal Das near his office, a local government official said on condition of anonymity because of security fears.

Das was a leader of the small Nepal Sadbhawana Party, which supports King Gyanendra, in Janakpur, a city about 190 miles southeast of Katmandu.

A spate of insurgent violence that began early this month with a rebel promise to disrupt the elections continued yesterday, with fighting outside a southern village leaving at least 17 rebels, five soldiers, two civilians and a policeman dead.

The rebels attacked a security patrol near the village of Phapar Badi, 100 miles south of Katmandu, a statement from the Defence Ministry said.

In Katmandu, the government lifted the house arrest imposed on three top dissidents, including a former prime minister, over the weekend to deter demonstrations against the king’s direct rule.

Troops yesterday left their positions outside the homes of former Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress party, Khadga Prasad Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal, and Narayan Man Bijuchche of the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party.

The dissidents were detained as the government cut off mobile phone service and locked down the streets of Katmandu on Friday to stop the rally.

Opposition leaders postponed the demonstration until the next day. Only a few thousand people showed up, and hundreds of protesters were arrested, the organisers said. About 50 people were injured in clashes with police, according to the police.

The government says the scheduled February 8 municipal elections are the first step in the restoration of democracy, to be followed by parliamentary elections within the next couple of years, although a date has not been set.

The rebels, inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong, seek to replace the former constitutional monarchy with a socialist government, and have promised to lay down their arms if an election is held for a special assembly that would draft a new constitution.

The king has refused to meet rebels and ignored a four-month unilateral ceasefire that they ended on January 2 this year.