By Michael Heath and Jay Shankar
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aIFlKeO_.L4M&refer=asia
May 28 (Bloomberg) -- Nepal's parliament, meeting for the first time since former rebels won elections in April, will declare the Himalayan country a republic today, ending a 240- year-old monarchy.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has told King Gyanendra to quit the palace and become a ``common citizen.'' The king hasn't commented on his plans.
``There will be no problem to pass the resolution abolishing the monarchy,'' Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said by phone yesterday from the capital, Kathmandu. ``It should go smoothly as most of the parties want it to happen.''
Gyanendra lost most of his powers in 2006 when he was forced to allow the return of a civilian government after facing nationwide strikes to protest his absolute rule. An interim administration said he must pay taxes, placed the army under civilian control and removed his image from the 500-rupee note, replacing it with Mount Everest.
The rebels fought a 10-year insurgency to overthrow the monarchy before disarming under a November 2006 peace accord that provided for elections for an assembly that will draft a new constitution for the Himalayan country of 26.4 million people.
Nepal's three biggest parties, holding 433 seats in the new 601-member parliament, agreed to replace the monarchy with a ceremonial president, with most authority concentrated in the prime minister's office, Nepalnews.com reported.
Presidential Powers
``The president can exercise his powers to resolve any constitutional or political deadlock'' and undertake ceremonial duties, Jhalnath Khanal, general-secretary of the CPN (Unified Marxist-Leninist), said yesterday after three days of talks with the leaders of the Maoist and Nepali Congress parties.
The parties agreed to turn the Narayanhity Royal Palace into a national museum, Nepalnews.com reported. ``A separate residence for the president will have to be found,'' Khanal said. The king will be given as long as 15 days to vacate his palace, Mahara said, according to Agence France-Presse.
Thousands of people opposed to the king packed the streets around the building housing the new Constituent Assembly and were chanting slogans including ``Thief Gyanendra, leave the country,'' AFP said.
The Maoists won 220 seats in the April 10 ballot. Nepali Congress, the nation's oldest political party, won 110 seats, while the CPN (UML) secured 103 and the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum, representing the Terai region bordering India, won 52.
Gyanendra became king and began wearing the traditional crown made of yak hair and peacock feathers in June 2001, after his brother Birendra and close relatives were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra, who then shot himself.
U
nified Country
Nepal was unified when King Prithivi Narayan Shah took control of Kathmandu city in 1768 and the Malla rulers were driven from Kathmandu valley. Previously, the territory was divided into small principalities.
Many Nepalese believed Gyanendra's family members were reincarnated Hindu gods, who created the landlocked kingdom between India and China. About 80 percent of Nepalis are Hindu.
Analysts say the traditional respect for the king has waned because of the upheavals in recent years.
The king is no longer seen as ``a symbol of unity and integrity,'' Lok Raj Baral, executive chairman of the independent Nepal Center for Contemporary Studies, said by telephone from Kathmandu yesterday. ``There have been no demonstrations in support of the king.''
Talks With U.S.
The public has accepted the country will become a republic, he said. ``Maoists have the mandate and they are going to form the government and all parties are together.''
Maoist leader Prachanda met with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Evan Feigenbaum earlier this week, in the first contact between a top State Department official and the former rebels, Nepalnews.com reported. The U.S. lists the Maoists as a terrorist organization.
Prachanda said he told Feigenbaum that, while the Maoists have been ``part of the peace process for a long time,'' the Bush administration ``still doesn't have a positive outlook'' on the former rebels, according to Nepalnews.com.
Feigenbaum, who is responsible for South and Central Asian affairs, arrived in Nepal on May 24 for a 3-day visit, according to a statement from the U.S. embassy in Kathmandu.
To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Heath in Sydney at mheath1@bloomberg.net; Jay Shankar in Bangalore at jshankar1@bloomberg.net.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment