Those Maoist rebel “democrats” have what they wish. Are they ready for it?<\/a>: “All that ended June 16 with an agreement to establish an interim government to replace the current national parliament as well as the ‘people’s government’ that rules territory under rebel control.\u00a0<\/p>\nThe Maoists say they will abide by the decisions of a yet-to-be-formed constituent assembly, which will decide what type of government Nepal will have.<\/p>\n
But after so many years of living as guerrillas, fighting the government and demanding goals steeped in a Marxist ideology much of the world has long forgotten, the big question is what their leader, known to all as Prachanda, wants for the nation.<\/p>\n
The schoolteacher-turned-militant has few democratic credentials, tolerating no dissent as the leader of the guerrillas who call their overriding philosophy ‘Prachandapath’, ‘Prachanda’s Way.’<\/p>\n
In interviews since he emerged from hiding, his pronouncements about Nepal’s new government have been vague and sometimes contradictory.<\/p>\n
‘There shouldn’t be parliamentary republicanism’ in Nepal, he recently told the weekly magazine Nepal. He ruled out an autocracy, but said that ‘we need a republicanism of our own kind.’ He didn’t elaborate.<\/p>\n
His plans for the struggling economy are equally hazy.<\/p>\n
Despite the basics of the creed named after Mao Zedong, the Chinese communist leader, Prachanda says the rebels will encourage industry, job creation and the quest for profits.<\/p>\n
“<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’ll believe it when I see it.<\/p>\n