A nationwide strike has been declared across Nepal in protest against dictator King Gyanendra's "elections" to be held on Wednesday.
The elections have been organised to legitimise his dismissal of Parliament and seizure of power last year, but have been largely boycotted.
As the capital Kathmandu's streets are deserted, the government and much of the media are attempting to blame the general strike on armed Maoist rebels. But seven political parties – who won 90% of the vote in the last democratic elections in 1999 – are boycotting the election and over half the 4,146 local positions have no candidates at all.
The Financial Times reports that the king's strategy of locking up political leaders and civil rights activists, modelled on Burma's, has succeeded in damping turn-out at pro-democracy protests in the capital. Mass rallies have petered out, to be replaced by ad-hoc skirmishes with security forces.
The United Nations' Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in nepal on Saturday called on the king to release an estimated 800 people detained under the Public Security Act for "peacefully expressing their political opinion".
By libcom.org news
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