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Maoists call 72-hour strike against Nepal election
Kathmandu, Sept 22: Maoists rebels in Nepal have called a 72-hour general strike across the country to coincide with snap parliamentary polls on November 13, local press reports said today.
Kathmandu, Sept 22: Maoists rebels in Nepal have called a 72-hour general strike across the country to coincide with snap parliamentary polls on November 13, local press
reports said today.
A statement issued in the name of Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachand, and his second in command, Baburam Bhattarai, and faxed to local dailies announced the three-day strike between November 11 and 13.
The polls were called by caretaker Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba two years ahead of schedule after Parliament was suddenly dissolved in may.
Critics have said a free election will be nearly impossible when much of the country is under the control of the Maoists, who are fighting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, and other areas are under the tight watch of security forces.
The rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996 and their bloody insurgency has so far claimed over 4,700 lives.
In their call for a general strike, the Maoist leaders reiterated their desire for political dialogue with the government.
"Dialogue is the only way out at a time when the country is on a threshold of regression and counter-regression," said the statement.
The rebel leaders also called for a round table meeting of all political parties in the country. Bureau Report
A statement issued in the name of Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, alias Prachand, and his second in command, Baburam Bhattarai, and faxed to local dailies announced the three-day strike between November 11 and 13.
The polls were called by caretaker Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba two years ahead of schedule after Parliament was suddenly dissolved in may.
Critics have said a free election will be nearly impossible when much of the country is under the control of the Maoists, who are fighting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy, and other areas are under the tight watch of security forces.
The rebels have been fighting for a communist republic in Nepal since 1996 and their bloody insurgency has so far claimed over 4,700 lives.
In their call for a general strike, the Maoist leaders reiterated their desire for political dialogue with the government.
"Dialogue is the only way out at a time when the country is on a threshold of regression and counter-regression," said the statement.
The rebel leaders also called for a round table meeting of all political parties in the country. Bureau Report