Transition to Democracy: a brief history

Nepali society is permeated with traditions of status and privilege (dominated until recently by the royal family), and social, economic and political inequalities which are compounded by a caste system. Literacy rates (37 per cent) and life expectancy (55 years) remain low, while over half the population remain beneath the poverty line. Since the mid 1980s, Nepal’s economy has been increasingly integrated with regional and global economies, characterised by neoliberal approaches to development, which have deregulated capital and labour markets, removed price controls, and privatized state-owned enterprises. Following the introduction of a multi-party parliamentary system as a result of the democratic revolution of 1990, Nepal has also witnessed political and economic instability as a result of: (i) constant changes of national government as political power has shifted between opposing electoral political parties such as the Nepali Congress Party and the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist); (ii) a Maoist insurgency waged against the government since 1996, which has displaced many rural inhabitants to Kathmandu and undermined the Nepalese economy; and (iii) the massacre of the Royal family in 2001 which saw King Birendra’s brother, Gyanendra, assume Royal power in the country.This instability culminated in February 2005, when, in the face of the ongoing Maoist insurgency, King Gyanendra staged a Royal-military coup, dissolving the Nepalese Parliament indefinitely, enforcing martial law, and assuming control of the government. In opposition to the royal takeover, a broad alliance of political parties, called the Seven Party Alliance (SPA), was organised, calling for a peace process in the country to stop the violence generated by the Maoist insurgency against the government. Subsequently, the SPA was joined by the Maoists in a broad front against the Royal regime. During April 2006, a series of protests focused in Kathmandu, termed the People's Movement, or Jana Andolan, (which included strikes, economic blockades, and mass demonstrations), were initiated by the SPA and the Maoists that culminated in the King reinstating parliament. By May 2006, an interim government had been established comprising all of the major opposition parties, including the Maoists. This government unanimously voted to strip the King of many of his powers (including his control of the army); to draft a new constitution, and to initiate a peace process that included all political actors within the country. With the United Nations in Nepal to oversee the disarmament process of the Maoists, National elections, postponed in June 2007, are now scheduled for November 2007.