Maoists vow king's swift exit
2008-04-24 15:28
Kathmandu - Nepal's Maoists pledged on Thursday that the world's last Hindu monarchy will be abolished swiftly after final results from landmark polls gave the ultra-leftists a resounding victory.
"The first meeting of the constituent assembly will definitely end the monarchy and there will not be any compromise on this," Maoist leader Prachanda told journalists.
The former rebel chief, who goes by one name, spoke after meeting foreign ambassadors and UN officials as he prepared to take charge of the new government.
Despite their surprise victory, the Maoist leader said that the ex-insurgents could not rule out the use of violence.
"Right now, I cannot renounce every kind of violence," Prachanda, or the "fierce one" warned.
"We want to lead this process to a logical conclusion and we want to create a model of peace. Through this we want to renounce reactionary violence," said Prachanda.
Engaging in violence
He did not explain what he meant by "reactionary violence" but shortly after, Maoist spokesperson Krishna Bahadur Mahara contradicted him.
"We can't think of engaging in violence again when we are coming to power through the ballot," Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AFP.
The Maoists, who fought a bloody insurgency that ended in 2006 with 13 000 dead, swept double the number of seats of their nearest rivals and favourites, officials said on Thursday.
After counting was completed late on Wednesday, the Maoists "emerged well ahead," election commission official Matrika Shrestha told AFP.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) won a total of 217 seats in the new 601-member constituent assembly, which is expected to sit for the first time in coming weeks and abolish the 240-year-old monarchy.
The Nepali Congress - traditionally the dominant party in the Himalayan nation - took just 107 seats in the April 10 polls, election officials also said.
Historic win
After being Nepal's second largest party for years, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) won 101 seats in the body that will chart the impoverished country's political future.
The new government is due to fill a further 26 seats.
Despite the historic win, the Maoists want to work with their defeated foes in building a coalition government.
"We all have to respect the people's mandate and all parties should work together to fulfil the people's wishes for peace and progress," senior Maoist Dinanath Sharma told AFP.