Nepali monarchy pushed to the brink

In Nepal, a 238-year-old monarchy of the Shah dynasty appears to be on the verge of collapse as King Gyanendra faces a popular uprising demanding democracy in the Himalayan country.

Normal life in the capital, Katmandu, and other major urban centers has been impossible since April 6, when the royal regime began imposing daily curfews to suppress a general strike called by a seven-party coalition demanding abolition of the monarchy.

As hundreds of thousands of people continued to defy the curfew, Gyanendra yesterday announced that “executive power” would be “returned to the people.”

In a nationally broadcast speech, the king called on the opposition to nominate a prime minister with the objective of conducting the elections for representative bodies.

But the king has stopped short of accepting a key opposition demand: to create a national assembly that would write a new constitution.

A leader of the Nepali Congress and the spokesman of the opposition coalition, Krishna Prasad Sitaula, rejected the king’s offer: “It is not enough and protests against [the king] will continue.”

In Washington, the State Department welcomed the king’s announcement and urged him to follow up on his promise.

“We expect the king to live up to his words and allow the parties to form a government,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Neighboring India also welcomed the king’s pledge to hand over power. “This action … should now pave the way for the restoration of political stability and economic recovery of the country,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Pradeep Nepal, spokesman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist- UML), said, “The king has not touched the issues raised by the seven-party alliance.”

Minendra Rijal of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) said “anything less” than the elections to a national assembly was “now unacceptable.”

Gyanendra seized power in February 2005.

The opposition alliance is seeking the restoration of the dissolved parliament, an all-party government, peace negotiations with the Maoist rebels and the election to an assembly to write a new constitution.

The demonstrators in the street continued to chant slogans against Gyanendra, calling him a thief and a murderer and telling him to leave the country even after his announcement yesterday.

The announcement was issued in the evening as daily protests subsided.

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