Thaindian News

Kathmandu, May 21 (IANS) A trade union affiliated to Nepal’s ruling Maoist party has stopped the sale of Japanese company Honda’s products in the country in a bid to pressure the Nepali dealer into giving jobs to nine people.

Syakar Company Ltd, Honda’s sole dealer in Nepal since the 1960s, said Saturday it had been forced to stop the sale of Honda vehicles and power products and after-sale services following pressure by its trade union affiliated to the Maoists.

In a public notification, the dealer said the trade union was spreading the misinformation that the company had tried to sack nine people and that the union was battling for their reinstatement.

It said the nine were actually trainees who had completed their apprenticeship and the company was in the process of evaluating their performance when the union issued a warning this week, saying it would halt all sales if the nine were not given employment.

The statement said subsequently, after talks with the union representatives, the company decided to hire all nine. But even after an agreement had been signed, the union brought all work to a halt since Thursday.

The disruption comes even as Nepal’s three-month-old government is on the verge of collapsing.

Communist Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal has been asked to quit by the main opposition party, the Nepali Congress, which has threatened to vote against him during a critical debate in parliament next week.

Khanal admitted this month that his government would not be able to enforce a new constitution by May 28 and is seeking an additional year to complete the task.

However, the Nepali Congress said at a mass rally in the capital Friday that it would vote against the proposal in parliament next week unless Khanal reined in his major ally in the ruling coalition, the Maoists.

The Maoists have been asked to discharge their People’s Liberation Army and hand over all its weapons. They have also been asked to return all the public properties they grabbed during their 10-year armed insurrection.

But even though the government faces a dire crisis only a week later, the Maoist cadre, especially its trade union, remain unconcerned and unaccountable.

A festering infighting among the three top Maoist leaders saw the Maoist trade union too split three ways and begin attacking one another.

The ugly rift in the once underground party was exposed as never before this month after Maoist deputy chief and former finance minister Baburam Bhattarai sought police protection, saying he had received death threats from a trade unionist loyal to Maoist chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda.