US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU978

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000978 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR SA/INS, DS/IP/SA, AND DS/DSS/ITA 
LONDON FOR CGURNEY 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, CASC, ASEC, NP, Political Parties 
SUBJECT: NEPAL'S POLITICAL PARTIES' ATTEMPT TO RE-OPEN 
PARLIAMENT TURNS VIOLENT 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 961 
 
1.  (U) On May 28, Nepal's political parties marched on the 
Parliament House in an attempt to reconvene the dissolved 
House of Representatives for two days of meetings.  Each of 
the five parties participating in the day's protest held 
seats prior to Parliament's dissolution in 2002, including 
the Nepali Congress (NC), the Communist Party of Nepal-United 
Marxist Leninist (UML), People's Front Nepal (PFN), Nepal 
Workers and Peasant's Party (NWPP), and the Nepal Sadbhavana 
Party (NSP).  Support for the parties' efforts was not 
universal.  The palace-aligned Rastriya Pajatantra Party 
(RPP) General Secretary, Kamal Thapa, stated that his party 
would not participate in the march, preferring to remain 
neutral.  Former Speaker of Parliament Tara Nath Ranabhat and 
former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba also refused to 
participate, explaining that this would set a bad precedent 
for future parliaments and is unconstitutional. 
 
2.  (U) Embassy sources report that the leaders of the 
political parties, including former Prime Ministers G.P. 
Koirala (NC) and Mahdav Nepal (UML), headed the procession to 
the Parliament House (which is collocated with the Prime 
Minister's office and most government offices in a walled 
complex) but were prevented from entering by security 
personnel.  The parties then activated their alternate plan 
to open their session in the Royal Nepal Academy, roughly 2 
kilometers north of Parliament.  During the travel to the 
alternate site, the party cadres reportedly became violent, 
throwing rocks and bricks at passing vehicles.  The police 
used baton charges and tear gas to disperse the protesters. 
The Embassy has received no reports of American Citizens 
caught in this latest protest; however, the RSO has sent a 
Security Notice through the warden system advising American 
Citizens to avoid the area. 
 
3.  (SBU) Comment:  The political parties' demonstration 
today is a continuation of their joint protest (reftel) 
against the King's appointment of an interim government in 
October 2002.  Today's particular aim was to reestablish a 
constitutional body that could prompt a showdown with the 
King.  The protest's descent into violence is another 
demonstration of the parties' inability to articulate a 
constructive role for themselves in Nepal's political 
landscape.  The violence also mars the fiftieth anniversary 
celebrations marking Sir Edmund Hillary's and Tenzing 
Norgay's ascent of Everest. 
BOGGS