Maoist protesters clashed with residents

KATHMANDU (AFP) – Maoist protesters clashed with residents in the Nepalese capital Kathmandu on Thursday as anger grew over a strike that has shut down much of the country for five days.
The Maoist party, which has the largest number of seats in parliament, is enforcing the general strike in an attempt to oust the ruling coalition government in a tactic that threatens to derail Nepal's fragile peace process.
"There have been some minor clashes between anti-Maoist demonstrators and Maoists," police spokesman Bigyan Raj Sharma told AFP on Thursday. "Police resorted to minimum use of force to bring the situation under control."
Furious locals in Budanilkantha, in the north of the city, tried to defy the Maoists, who have ordered private and commercial vehicles off the streets and for all shops, offices and businesses to remain closed.
Police said they used tear gas to break up the fighting as Maoist supporters beat up locals frustrated at the shutdown.
The National Human Rights Commission, an autonomous official body, expressed concern over the increasing problems facing the public as talks between Maoists and the government failed to make progress.
"Medical care has been badly affected. We have had reports of patients being transported back to their homes in wheelchairs," commission spokesman Gauri Pradhan told AFP.
"Pregnant women have difficulty getting to hospital. Remote areas are facing acute shortage of essential drugs because transport is affected," she said.
Many hospitals have kept only their emergency wards open as doctors struggle to get to work.
"Two doctors are working 24-hours and a few nurses are working double shifts," Philip Shyam Ranjit, a doctor at B&B Hospital's emergency department, told AFP. "A lot of people have no access to medical attention."
The Maoists have launched their challenge to the government -- a loose coalition of 20 parties -- ahead of May 28 by when a new national constitution should have been drafted.But lawmakers are expected to miss the deadline, leading to a possible political crisis.
"The prime minister needs to step down, and all parties must reach an agreement on how to move forward," Lok Raj Baral, chairman of the Nepal Centre of Contemporary Studies, a pro-democracy think-tank, told AFP.
"They must not forget that the constitution still needs to be written and the peace process brought back on track."
Maoist guerrillas fought a bloody insurgency against the state for 10 years before a peace deal was signed in 2006. The left-wing former rebels then won elections in 2008 before falling from power last year.
A second major obstacle facing the country is how to integrate nearly 20,000 former Maoist fighters who are living in UN-monitored camps around the country.