Maoists eye multiparty democracy

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Baburam Bhattarai, 50, the ideologue and No. 2 leader of the Maoist insurgents in Nepal, was interviewed by e-mail on July 20 by Chitra Tiwari, a Washington-based analyst of South Asian affairs.

Mr. Bhattarai was briefly stripped of his powerful position but has returned to his original post as a member of the Standing Committee of the Politburo of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist after a power struggle with Maoist chief Prachanda. He scanned an accompanying signature and attached it to his replies to confirm their authenticity.

Question: It was reported several months ago that you were purged from all positions of responsibility by your party. Now you appear to be active in an international public relations campaign. Has your party restored you to your previous positions?

Answer: It is true that a serious inner-party struggle had developed within our party over important ideological and political questions. The core issue was the question of defense, application and development of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism as a scientific tool to change the social world in the 21st century. To be more specific, the question of dictatorship and democracy, both with respect to the party and society at large, was at the center of the debate. In strategic terms it was the vexed question of developing a new model of proletarian or socialist democracy devoid of distortions of the Stalin era, and in a tactical or immediate sense, it was the question of pursuing a correct political line to abolish feudal monarchical autocracy and complete bourgeois democratic revolution in the country.

Our party has recently resolved to grapple with these ideological and political questions in a unified and principled manner. I have now been rehabilitated to my earlier position in the Standing Committee of the Politburo.

Q: It was reported that you met Indian political leaders in New Delhi. Whom did you meet with and what have you achieved from those meetings? Did you contact representatives of other foreign governments and agencies, particularly China, the United States, the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United Nations? If so, what was their response?

A: Yes, I was deputed by the party, along with other comrades, to have dialogue with different political forces, both inside and outside Nepal, for a just and forward-looking political solution to the problems. As we are still in the process of engagement of different kinds with the important political players that have stakes in Nepal, it may not be opportune to divulge the details yet. But this much I can share with you: Almost all the national and international forces now realize that there can be no viable and sustainable political solution without our active participation in the whole process. This has certainly motivated our party to play an even more constructive and responsible role in the days to come for peace, democracy and progress in Nepal.

Q: Do you sincerely believe you can prevail over King Gyanendra's army to establish a Maoist republic and sustain the revolutionary regime at a time when the regional and international situation is not favorable to your cause?

A: It is not only our sincere belief but the real apprehension of even our opponents, like the U.S. ambassador to Nepal, that the revolutionary forces may any time overrun the tottering royal regime. Almost all the independent observers in recent times have testified that the effective control of the royal government does not extend even a few kilometers from the capital city or the heavily fortified military barracks elsewhere in the country. The royal army has been completely reduced to the defensive, and would have collapsed much earlier if it were not buttressed by external military aid, particularly from the U.S.A., India, the UK and others.

Despite this, we are not attempting a final military victory right now, but are working for a negotiated political settlement either directly for a democratic republic or for the election to a constituent assembly.