By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA, Associated Press Writer Binaj Gurubacharya, Associated Press Writer – 48 mins ago
KATMANDU, Nepal – Nepal's communists vowed Wednesday to step up protests and block a new government from forming unless the president supports the firing of the country's army chief in a dispute over integrating former rebels into the military.
President Ram Baran Yadav refused Sunday to honor a directive by communist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to fire the country's military chief because of his refusal to enlist former communist fighters into the military. Dahal resigned in protest Monday, throwing the Himalayan country into crisis.
Police used tear gas and bamboo batons to break up a protest by about 500 supporters of Dahal's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in Katmandu on Wednesdsay. No one was seriously injured in the clash.
Authorities have imposed ban on protests and rallies in key areas of Katmandu this week.
Maoists have been holding protests since Dahal resigned Monday and the party's lawmakers shut down parliament Tuesday by gathering in the front of the assembly hall and chanting slogans.
Maoist lawmaker Barsa Man Pun said the lawmakers would continue to block parliament proceedings, making it impossible for a new prime minister to be voted in.
"There will be more protests until the president withdraws his unconstitutional decision," he said.
Political parties held crisis talks Tuesday in Katmandu to try to form a new coalition government, but the Maoists have stayed away from the meetings.
"There is no meaning of holding these consultations until the issue is resolved," Pun said.
Dahal's party is the largest in parliament but it does not have a clear majority to rule. His resignation this week prompted his party to leave the ruling coalition and caused the government to collapse.
The president belongs to Nepali Congress party, the country's second-largest party after the Maoists, which is leading coalition talks with the Maoists' former allies in parliament.
The Maoists fought a bloody 10-year war before joining the political mainstream in 2006. They won the most votes during parliamentary elections last year and then abolished the centuries-old monarchy.
Many of the movement's fighters remain confined to U.N.-monitored barracks. Under a peace accord brokered by the world body, they were supposed to be integrated into the military.
Dahal had attempted to fire Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal because he refused to enlist the rebels in the military, but Yadav overruled the decision.
In his resignation speech, Dahal accused Yadav of "a fatal attack on the infant democracy." He claimed the president had no power to act as he did without the prior approval of Cabinet.
"The unconstitutional and undemocratic move by the president has pushed the country toward a serious political crisis," Dahal said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090506/ap_on_re_as/as_nepal_8
KATMANDU, Nepal – Nepal's communists vowed Wednesday to step up protests and block a new government from forming unless the president supports the firing of the country's army chief in a dispute over integrating former rebels into the military.
President Ram Baran Yadav refused Sunday to honor a directive by communist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal to fire the country's military chief because of his refusal to enlist former communist fighters into the military. Dahal resigned in protest Monday, throwing the Himalayan country into crisis.
Police used tear gas and bamboo batons to break up a protest by about 500 supporters of Dahal's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in Katmandu on Wednesdsay. No one was seriously injured in the clash.
Authorities have imposed ban on protests and rallies in key areas of Katmandu this week.
Maoists have been holding protests since Dahal resigned Monday and the party's lawmakers shut down parliament Tuesday by gathering in the front of the assembly hall and chanting slogans.
Maoist lawmaker Barsa Man Pun said the lawmakers would continue to block parliament proceedings, making it impossible for a new prime minister to be voted in.
"There will be more protests until the president withdraws his unconstitutional decision," he said.
Political parties held crisis talks Tuesday in Katmandu to try to form a new coalition government, but the Maoists have stayed away from the meetings.
"There is no meaning of holding these consultations until the issue is resolved," Pun said.
Dahal's party is the largest in parliament but it does not have a clear majority to rule. His resignation this week prompted his party to leave the ruling coalition and caused the government to collapse.
The president belongs to Nepali Congress party, the country's second-largest party after the Maoists, which is leading coalition talks with the Maoists' former allies in parliament.
The Maoists fought a bloody 10-year war before joining the political mainstream in 2006. They won the most votes during parliamentary elections last year and then abolished the centuries-old monarchy.
Many of the movement's fighters remain confined to U.N.-monitored barracks. Under a peace accord brokered by the world body, they were supposed to be integrated into the military.
Dahal had attempted to fire Army Chief Rookmangud Katawal because he refused to enlist the rebels in the military, but Yadav overruled the decision.
In his resignation speech, Dahal accused Yadav of "a fatal attack on the infant democracy." He claimed the president had no power to act as he did without the prior approval of Cabinet.
"The unconstitutional and undemocratic move by the president has pushed the country toward a serious political crisis," Dahal said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090506/ap_on_re_as/as_nepal_8
