Nepal’s king delays naming premier

Three weeks after the resignation of Surya Bahadur Thapa, Nepal’s King Gyanendra has not named a new prime minister.

The May 7 resignation of Mr. Thapa after 11 months in office had raised hopes of an end to the country’s long-running political impasse, but brinkmanship by the king, the political parties and Maoist insurgents is pushing Nepal toward anarchy.

Mr. Thapa’s resignation followed often violent antimonarchy demonstrations since April 1 organized by the five parliamentary parties, which demanded restoration of the dissolved parliament and formation of an all-party government.

Then, a May 5-6 meeting in Katmandu of 20 donor countries and six international agencies called the Nepal Development Forum (NDF) pressed Gyanendra for democratic reforms and negotiations with the Maoists as a condition for $1.6 billion in development aid over three years.

A joint statement at the end of the NDF meeting said the money was offered because of the urgency of aid “to the people in rural and deprived areas.” It also stressed “the urgent need to have the democratic process restored, the conflict resolved and human rights respected.”

Early this month, Maoist leaders Pushpa Kamal Dahal (“Prachanda”) and Baburam Bhattarai congratulated the young people and students spearheading the demonstrations and urged them and members of the five-party alliance to join a united front with the Maoists against the monarchy to fight for a democratic republic, promising that the Maoist party would participate in politics in the new republic.

Faced with the antimonarchy agitation, pressure from the donor countries, and the possibility of a united front seeking a republic, Gyanendra within hours began consultations with retired pro-monarchy politicians about a potential course of action.

These consultations led to the departure of the prime minister, who said, “I hope my resignation will pave the way for building a national consensus and help establish lasting peace in the country.”

As they accepted Mr. Thapa’s resignation, palace officials quoted the king as saying the next government should include all sides under the leadership of a person with a “clean image” who can restore peace and prepare parliamentary elections before mid-April 2005.

Gyanendra invited political elders for private meetings before announcing a new prime minister, and former Prime Ministers Kirti Nidhi Bista, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, Marich Man Shrestha and Krishna Prasad Bhattarai met separately with the king.

However, the leaders of the five-party alliance — Girija Prasad Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress party and a former prime minister; Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of Unified Marxist and Leninist Party, and Narayan Man Bijukchhe, chairman of the Workers and Peasants Party — sensing an attempt to divide and rule, refused to meet the king individually and insisted on a joint audience.

Gyanendra also sought the opinion of more than 300 members of varied professional and civic associations, who were invited for luncheon at the Gokarna Royal Resort.

While the king was holding meetings, the results of the Indian elections that displaced the Hindu nationalists — the patrons of Nepali royalty in India — appear to have forced Gyanendra to invite the leaders of the five-party alliance for a May 19 meeting at Nagarjun Royal Resort.

It ended inconclusively, however, as the king reportedly told the five leaders not to force him to go beyond “constitutional norms” by demanding restoration of the dissolved parliament.

The five-party alliance leaders have publicly warned that the effort to limit the king’s power could turn into a movement to abolish the monarchy unless the king agrees to a titular role as head of state. The parties have shown no intention of ending street protests.

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