This Article is From Nov 13, 2013

Nepal disillusioned by top Maoists' taste for luxury

Nepal disillusioned by top Maoists' taste for luxury

Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) supporters wave flags during Maoist leader Nanda Kishor Pun door to door election campaign rally in Kapan on the outskirts of Kathmandu on November 7, 2013, ahead of elections in the Himalayan nation

Kathmandu: When Nepal ousted the monarchy and voted in a Maoist-led government in 2008, few anticipated that, five years on, the former guerrillas would come under fire for living like kings.

Commentators and former rebels say the party's leadership has swapped its revolutionary ideals for corruption-fuelled luxury, with the strongest criticism reserved for chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by the nom-de-guerre Prachanda.

The Maoists came to power promising social change, economic growth and lasting peace for a country devastated by a decade-long civil war.

Since then, Nepal has seen several coalition governments come and go, with none able to agree on a constitution to finalise the peace process.

Meanwhile, the Maoists have witnessed a mutiny, with a splinter group threatening to disrupt next week's national elections.

Former guerrilla Bishnu Pariyar took up arms aged 14. By the time he was 22, he had survived gunshot wounds to become one of Prachanda's personal aides.

"The rich used to treat us like dogs and I thought our war would liberate the poor," Pariyar said.

Soon after he began working for the Maoist chief, he noticed Prachanda's taste for luxury brands and imported whisky -- a fondness that has not escaped the attentions of local media.

"That family just loves to spend, whether it's Prachanda blowing money on hair gel or Rolex watches, his wife buying saris all the time or his son Prakash, obsessed with changing his mobile phone every two weeks," Pariyar told AFP.

Prachanda's lifestyle first attracted criticism when news emerged in January 2012 that he had rented a 15-room mansion in Kathmandu, a property he still occupies, despite promises to vacate it.

The estate -- its gate decorated with Hindu religious motifs -- includes parking space for more than a dozen vehicles, a building to house 70 guards and a table tennis room.

The news rankled many in Nepal, one of the world's most unequal and impoverished countries, where nearly 25 percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank.

Two months later, another scandal erupted when the Maoist-led government acknowledged offering $250,000 to Prachanda's son Prakash Dahal to climb Mount Everest.

And, in April 2012, clashes broke out in an UN-monitored camp for former Maoist soldiers when troops accused the party of stealing funds owed to them.

By the end of the year, simmering discontent saw a former chef, Padam Kunwar turn into a hero when he slapped Prachanda in the face at a public function.

"I kept reading about him, his fancy lifestyle. Meanwhile, my family lost everything in the war," Kunwar, whose siblings are former guerrillas, told AFP.

He was beaten up by furious Prachanda followers and arrested, but many Nepalese rallied behind him, launching Facebook fan pages and tweeting their support.

Nearly a year later, Kunwar will challenge his nemesis once more, this time at the ballot box in Prachanda's Kathmandu constituency.

"They promised us freedom from poverty. But they are the ones who got rich," he said.

Prachanda was the head of a coalition government from August 2008 to May 2009, largely made up of former rebel fighters who had no experience of governing. But he resigned after a clash with the army chief over plans to integrate former fighters into the military's ranks.

Prachanda and subsequent administrations struggled to elevate living standards and address inequality amid a series of crippling strikes.

Despite the complaints about the party and the surveys showing a large number of undecided voters, the Maoists are confident of winning an outright majority in the polls which could see Prachanda back in power.

Agni Sapkota, a spokesman for the party as well as an election candidate, said criticism of the party was part of a smear campaign and the Maoists remained true to their roots.

"The allegations that we have forgotten our ideals are wrong, they are spread by our enemies," he said.

Some former allies, however, say the party's top leadership has fostered a culture of nepotism and entitlement in recent years.

"The way the party works, the top guys control all the money and all the positions," Mumaram Khanal, former member of the party's central committee, told AFP.

"There is no transparency, only autocracy," he added.

Former Maoist premier Baburam Bhattarai, who won praise for choosing an inexpensive Nepal-made jeep as his official car, suffered an embarrassing setback in 2011 when his wife, Hisila Yami demanded an imported SUV from the state.

"It's not as though other parties haven't been accused of corruption, of favouring family members," Kunda Dixit, editor of Nepali Times told AFP.

"They have all plundered the country, but the Maoists promised a kind of utopia so now there is a huge sense of disillusion that has set in," Dixit said.
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