Can Maoists in Nepal be trusted?

It's easy to see why the impoverished people of Nepal want change but it's too early to tell if the Maoists, who gave up a 10-year-old insurgency to win parliamentary elections in April, will be able to concentrate on domestic affairs and deliver it. The Maoists are trying to put together a compromise cabinet after a special assembly picked their leader, Prachanda, to be the country's first prime minister. Nepal, the world's last Hindu dynasty, abolished its monarchy and set up a democratic government in May. "We hope to form the cabinet soon and are holding consultations with potential coalition partners," Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said today, according to the Reuters international news service. "We will try to form the cabinet by Monday." A democratic government was one of the major elements in the peace deal that ended the Maoist civil war in 2006. More than 13,000 Nepalis died in the conflict. In the election, the Maoists promised to represent the country's millions of poor people and provide better healthcare, schools, roads, jobs and food, Reuters said. But Nepal, one of the world's poorest nations, is facing severe fuel shortages in addition to rising prices. Prachanda's biggest immediate challenge is demobilizing his 20,000-strong guerrilla army and reintegrating them into Nepali society. But perhaps his greatest challenge will be to avoid the temptation of authoritarianism that has characterized the world's previous experiences with Communism-inspired governments.