SUMMARY
Modern Nepal emerged as a unified state in the late 18th century. The country was a monarchy from its inception until it was abolished in 2008. Through its existence, the power of the monarch fluctuated and these power shifts have often been coupled with violent conflicts. The royal palaces role diminished for the first time during the century-long Rana era (1846-1951). This period of hereditary prime ministerial governance (where the prime minister was entitled Rana) was characterised as autocratic, highly centralized and isolationist. In 1951 the Rana system was brought down by an alliance of the monarchy and the intellectual elite, backed by Nepals powerful neighbour, India. Attempts at parliamentary democracy were made in the ensuing decade, exemplified by the first ever multi-party elections in 1959 which the centre-left Nepali Congress Party (Congress) won with a landslide victory.
Eighteen months later the royal palace declared parliamentary democracy a failure, ousted (and arrested part of) the Congress government in December 1959 and went on to ban political parties. The royal takeover sparked an intra-state conflict with the Nepali Congress Party in 1960-1962. Congress led a guerrilla force of about 3000 enlisted and the attacks were launched from the Indian border region as Congress had the support of the Indian ruling party led by Jawaharlal Nehru. The centrality of Indian support was also made evident in the way the conflict ended; Congress called off the armed campaign on the request of Nehru, who was facing an inter-state conflict with China and needed to garner the Nepali kings cooperation. With the end of the Congress insurgency, the royal palace was free to instate its new form of governance in 1962 called the panchayat (village councils), a party-less system modelled on some form of guided democracy.
The panchayat structure collapsed in 1990 after a watershed campaign launched by a broad-based democracy movement and constitutional monarchy under multi-party democracy was introduced. However, the democratic system was quickly tarnished in the general populaces eyes as the political elite in the capital squabbled for power and failed to address the structural issues and injustices in Nepal. Thus, the 1990’s became a decade of numerous governmental constellations and the augmentation of different communist parties. The political incongruity and lack of a long term political stability stalled the economic development as well as the improvement of state institutions. Given that the tainted reputation of the Nepalese political elite became ubiquitous throughout Nepal, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M) was established and initiated an armed struggle against the government with the stated goal of overthrowing the constitutional monarchy and installing a communist government in its place.
In 2001, the murder of the Royal family, believed to have been committed by crown prince Dipendra, rendered yet another governmental shift. This event was the indirect cause of the downfall of the monarchy in 2008. The Maoists used the general sense of disorder as an opportunity to further destabilize the government by stepping up their attacks and intensifying propaganda, and the conflict escalated to unprecedented levels in November 2001. Faced with the crisis, the Nepalese government declared a nation-wide state of emergency and for the first time deployed the army to counter the insurgents. In 2002, the late king’s brother, Gyanendra, ascended the Nepalese throne and his political agenda was gearing Nepal towards a less democratic state. Gyanendra dissolved the parliament and replaced it with royalist supporters. Thus, Nepal was ostensibly plunged back to a state of absolute monarch power. However, as the King’s accumulation of power increased, CPN-M reacted rather forcefully. The new government proved to be unable to suppress the Maoist uprising and the ineptitude of the decision makers made it possible for CPN-M to continue their struggle for a communist state. On 1 February 2005, the king seized power and arrested democratic leaders. In what was widely seen as a royal coup, the rule of law was suspended as hundreds of political leaders, activists, journalists and rights workers were arrested to stifle dissent and suppress opposition. The kings actions met with widespread international condemnation, even by traditional allies such as India, the UK and the US. The state of emergency that was put in place during the coup was eventually lifted on 29 April after intense international pressure, but human rights activists pointed out that the king had not restored political freedom or released all politicians from jails.
The coup led to an escalation in violence which continued until 3 September 2005, when the Maoists declared a unilateral three-month ceasefire as they held talks with political parties. This ceasefire was not reciprocated by the king and while violence dropped dramatically during the ceasefire, small skirmishes continued to take place. 2006 started precariously, as the ceasefire which ended on 2 January was not extended by CPN-M, leading to a return to active conflict throughout the country between January and April. After a prolonged series of country-wide mass demonstrations throughout April, however, the king reinstated Parliament. In May, CPN-M and the new government quickly reached a new ceasefire agreement regulated by a 25-point code of conduct. A series of negotiations eventually led to the signing of CPA (Comprehensive Peace Agreement) on 21 November 2006. Elections to the Constituent Assembly finally took place in April 2008 and were declared free and fair by international monitors. The CPN-M subsequently led the government in an alliance with UML and MJF parties, with rebel leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) as Prime Minister. Political bickering remained commonplace, and concerns arose about the violent activities associated with the youth wings of various political parties, most notably CPN-Ms Young Communist League. In 2008, the monarchy was abolished after 239 years of existence and the nascent republic elected Ram Baran Yadau president. However, many of the political parties had problems accepting the Maoists as a legitimate political party. Despite the hesitation, the Maoist Pushpa Kamal Dahal, called Prashanda, was elected president. The issue regarding the integration of Maoist soldiers into the national army fuelled the tension to the point of governmental dismantling.
When Yadou halted Prashanda’s decision to dismiss the head of the army, the Maoists left the government as the rift between the two decision makers was only a manifestation of a power struggle. What followed subsequently was a new coalition consisting of 22 parties with the Nepalese Congress (NC) and the rather moderate Marxist-Leninists (UMC) as leading parties. This created political turmoil as the Maoists became an opposition party, staging national protests. The political instability made the government prolong its tenure by one year. This decision was supported by the Maoists as the Prime Minister Maghau Kemal Nepal (from UMC) was dismissed. This was subsequently followed by a series of attempts to elect a new Prime Minister.
The Government of Nepal has been involved in the intra-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
