Why would a Nepalese citizen vote for the group that staged a long, bloody "People's War" with the intent on imposing a Marxist-Leninist system on the country? Because they hate King Gyanendra more.
Much of the country has never quite gotten past the way he came to power -- after the 2001 massacre of several members of the royal family in a murder-suicide spree by Crown Prince Dipendra. Conspriacy theories still abound that Gyanendra (third in line to the throne at the time) staged the slayings himself and framed Dipendra.
And what's the Maoists' first order of business? To take Gyanendra out:
- "The Maoist party, called the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-M) has said it plans to lead the government that will be formed from the assembly, but has appealed to its defeated rivals to join its members in a coalition government.
...But negotiations with the Nepali Congress and United Marxist-Leninist have so far yielded few results.
The two parties accuse the Maoists of widespread election irregularities, including beating up their supporters and blocking their candidates from campaigning and visiting polling stations.
...One of the assembly's first orders of business will be to remove King Gyanendra, Nepal's monarch.
The Maoists, supported by a number of other parties, have said the country's 240-year-old monarchy will be formally abolished as soon as the constitution-drafting assembly sits.
The elections earlier this month were a central strand of the 2006 peace deal struck between the former Maoist fighters and mainstream parties that ended a decade of civil war in which 13,000 people died."
Gyanendra also fell out of favor for dismissing parliament soon after taking the throne and consolidating his power.