US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU572

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000572 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PGOV, NP, U.S-Nepali Relations, Maoist Insurgency 
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MAOIST IDEOLOGUE SURFACES IN CAPITAL; 
CONDEMNS US INTERFERENCE 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (SBU) Summary:  Since his return to the capital March 28, 
Maoist ideologue and second-ranking leader Baburam Bhattarai 
has conducted a media blitz, appearing at two consecutive 
press conferences, a Reporters' Club ceremony, and a popular 
television talk show.  In his appearances so far, Bhattarai 
has castigated the Government for alleged  ceasefire 
violations, emphasized that the Maoists have not given up on 
their goal of a republic, pressed the demand for a 
constituent assembly, and criticized the US for "interfering" 
in Nepal's internal affairs.  The Maoists seek "mutually 
beneficial relations" with all nations, Bhattarai told 
reporters, and may seek meetings with diplomatic missions, 
including the U.S.  Absent from Bhattarai's statements thus 
far has been any regret for Maoist excesses or any detailed 
explanation of the proposed constituent assembly.  End 
summary. 
 
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BABURAM'S BACK 
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2.  (U)  Maoist ideologue and second-ranking leader Baburam 
Bhattarai entered Kathmandu publicly on the afternoon of 
March 28 for the first time since the beginning of the 
seven-year insurgency.  Since then, Bhattarai has conducted a 
virtual media marathon, staging consecutive press conferences 
on March 29 and 30, distributing prizes at a Reporters' Club 
ceremony (where he shared the dais and shook hands with Prime 
Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand) on March 31, and appearing 
on a popular television talk show (hosted by a former 
Humphrey Fellow) the night of March 31.  Bhattarai, whom the 
Maoists nominated to head their negotiating team, reportedly 
also met with Nepali Congress President and former Prime 
Minister G.P. Koirala on March 30, and was scheduled to meet 
Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML) 
General Secretary Madhav Nepal the following day. 
 
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CLAIMS CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY IS MEANS TO NEW POLITICAL SYSTEM 
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3.  (U)  In his press conferences on March 29 and 30, where 
he was flanked by fellow Politburo members Ram Bahadur Thapa 
(aka Badal), the Maoists' military strategist, Dev Gurung, 
Krishna Mahara, and Matrika Yadav, Bhattarai stressed that 
the Maoists have not relinquished their long-term goal of 
establishing a communist republic.  In light of the current 
situation, which Bhattarai described as one of "strategic 
balance," the Maoists have amended their near-term objectives 
to realization of "a new democratic system" transcending 
"regressive alternatives," in which the interests of the 
downtrodden (e.g., members of ethnic minorities, the lower 
castes, women) will be fully represented.  The three existing 
political forces (the Maoists, the parliamentary parties, and 
the Palace) must each be involved in achieving this 
resolution.  This new democratic model will be the "logical" 
outcome of a three-step process, according to Bhattarai, that 
begins with a round-table conference "of all sides."  In the 
Maoist schematic, an interim government will "emanate" from 
the round-table conference, which will in turn oversee 
elections to a constituent assembly to draft a new 
constitution.  A new constitution is imperative, Bhattarai 
claimed, because "a constitutional vacuum" exists at present 
and "no constitutional structure is in place."  The new 
political system will represent "all forces and movements," 
he declaimed to his audience on March 30, and will ""go 
beyond the present multiparty system.  We are absolutely 
clear there will be no return to the status quo."   He did 
not, however, offer details of how the proposed new system 
would differ from the multiparty system. 
 
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CRITICIZES GON 
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4.  (U)  Bhattarai opened his March 29 address by reiterating 
stock Maoist criticism of the Government of Nepal (GON) for 
failing to create "a conducive environment" for dialogue. 
Instead, the GON is trying "to prolong the ceasefire for an 
indefinite period," Bhattarai charged, accusing it of 
violating the terms of the ceasefire "by engaging in 
unnecessary searches, arrests, and interference in peaceful 
political programs" and declining to release Maoist 
"prisoners of war." 
 
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SUGGESTS KING ABDICATE 
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5.  (U)  Bhattarai also took the opportunity to replay 
another recurrent Maoist theme in recent public 
statements--heated denials that the Maoists had struck a 
"secret" deal with the Palace or held clandestine meetings 
with the King.  In his remarks to members of the foreign and 
domestic press corps on March 30, Bhattarai was quoted as 
claiming that the Maoists had made a number of significant 
compromises to their original demands and called on the King 
to show similar "flexibility."  When pressed to define the 
extent of such flexibility, Bhattarai reportedly suggested 
that the King could abdicate his throne. 
 
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CHARGES US INTERFERENCE, 
BUT WANTS TO MEET 
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6.  (SBU)  Speaking on March 30, Bhattarai declared that the 
Maoists, mindful of the "sensitive geo-political" position of 
their country between Indian and China, would strive to have 
"cordial and mutually beneficial relations" with all foreign 
countries, including their giant neighbors, based on 
"principles of peaceful coexistence."  He appealed to the 
international community to help "materialize" the Maoist 
proposal for a constituent assembly as the "most democratic 
option right now."  To that end, he said he hoped to meet 
with the US, Indian, Chinese, British and EU "missions" in 
Kathmandu.  (Note:  We have not been approached about such a 
meeting.  End note.)  That said, the US should not interfere 
in Nepal's internal affairs, he warned, adding that America 
is "unnecessarily" interested in Nepal. 
 
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COMMENT 
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7.  (SBU)  Bhattarai's appearance in Kathmandu is a telling 
indication of the importance the Maoists are placing on 
possible negotiations.  Despite the suspense surrounding 
Bhattarai's long-anticipated return to Kathmandu, however, 
the Maoists' most authoritative wordsmith had little new or 
surprising to say.  Noticeably absent from his rather lengthy 
remarks was any acknowledgement of or regret for the damage 
and suffering wrought by the Maoists in their seven-year 
insurgency.  Also missing was any discussion of the purported 
deficiencies of the current Constitution that warrant 
scrapping it, or how the "new" political system will ensure 
the rights of the disadvantaged and underserved for whom the 
Maoists claim to speak. 
MALINOWSKI