Free Republic

Kathmandu: A sort of political blizzard is likely to overwhelm Nepal soon. Destructive politics appear to have already taken a shape which awaits only its formalization in a week or so. The frenzied play that is being played in the dim corners of Kathmandu backed by some alien forces in the South will, if it does happen, apparently be very hard to be tackled by the ruling Maoists-the party in government. Exactly after a lapse of three years four months (minus 12 days to be more precise), such a destructive political play is being staged by forces that are visibly...

Excerpt - KATHMANDU, May 27 (Reuters) - The Nepali government warned on Tuesday that it could use force to throw unpopular King Gyanendra out of the royal palace if he refuses to leave voluntarily after the 239-year-old monarchy is abolished. A special assembly elected in April is scheduled to hold its first meeting on Wednesday and formally declare an end to the monarchy, a key part of a 2006 peace deal with Maoist former rebels that ended a decade-long civil war. "The king must leave the palace immediately and move to the Nirmal Niwas," Peace and Reconstruction Minister Ram Chandra...

KATMANDU: Nepal's Chief Election Official said that Maoists have won half of the directly elected seats in elections for a Constitution-drafting Assembly. The ex-rebels who are formally known as Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) have won 120 of the 240 directly elected seats. Counting is continuing for three seats, but the Maoists are not expected to win those. The directly elected seats make up only about 40 per cent of the total seats in the Assembly, but the Maoists' win of half of these seats shows their level of support. Most of the additional seats are to be allotted...

Nepal to seize royal lands, king to be "normal citizen" by Deepesh Shrestha Sat Aug 5, 2006 Nepal plans to seize lands owned by King Gyanendra and other royal family members and distribute them to the poor as it moves toward treating the monarch like a "normal citizen," a minister said. Legislation limiting the amount of property the king can hold will be drafted once an inventory of royal properties is completed, Land Reforms Minister Prabhu Narayan Chaudhary said on Saturday in Kathmandu, the capital of the impoverished Himalayan nation. "The seized royal property will be nationalized and handed over...

As Nepal catches its collective breath after weeks of turmoil, renewed attention is focusing on the country's Maoist rebels and their decade-long violent insurrection aimed at toppling the monarchy in favour of a communist republic. In the view of some analysts, the Maoists have the upper hand politically now that King Gyanendra has bowed to popular pressure -- applied in part by their alliance of convenience with mainstream political parties -- and has begun ceding absolutist rule. Yesterday, the King appointed Girija Prasad Koirala, a feeble and sickly 84-year-old politician, as Prime Minister as the first step to restoring multiparty...

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Nepal's king vowed Friday to return multi-party democracy to his Himalayan country after weeks of bloody protests and increasing international pressure. But King Gyanandra fell short of a key opposition demand - the creation of a special assembly to write a new constitution - and one of the main opposition parties rejected the pledge as "incomplete." The king's announcement, broadcast nationwide, came hours after more than 100,000 pro-democracy protesters defied a government curfew to rally on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Smaller demonstrations broke out in the capital shortly after the speech, with some marchers chanting "Hail...

Two days of a successful bandh called by the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and Maoists cripple the hill kingdom of Nepal, and a brutal curfew is imposed to stymie what looks like a gathering storm of protest against the monarchy. But a former Nepali diplomat, who has survived all regimes, is confident: "Kathmandu 2006 will never become a Saigon 1975." His reference is to the year when the South Vietnam ruler abdicated power voluntarily — a step that led to the creation of unified, modern Vietnam. What the ex-diplomat ruled out was the possibility of Gyanendra abdicating. This and more....

India to act tough against Nepal king NEW DELHI: As violence in Nepal escalates and the crackdown on anti-government protesters gets harsher, New Delhi is getting ready to back up strong words with tough steps to push for the restoration of multi-party democracy in the Himalayan kingdom. "We will have to go beyond merely tough talk. If the situation doesn't improve, we will have to take some tough action," a high-level official source said. "We have many levers to call Nepal's king to account. The only problem is that such measures might give some sections in Nepal fodder for...

That he has managed to get Marxist leader Sitaram Yechury, former National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra and US President George W. Bush on the same side of the debate on Nepal reveals all you need to know about King Gyanendra’s ham-handed power play in the Himalayan kingdom. Since a shocking regicide put him in charge of Nepal’s destiny in June 2001, Gyanendra’s burning desire to restore royal absolutism has consistently outpaced his judgment on the prospects for his own survival or the collective interests of his country. Most authoritarian rulers extend their rule either by mobilising valuable external support or...

KATMANDU, Nepal — Protesters demanding a return to democracy postponed a rally that had been expected to draw thousands on Saturday, after the king imposed an all-day curfew and ordered violators shot on sight. Khadga Prasad Oli, deputy leader of the Communist Party of Nepal, called the curfew "unnecessary, illegal and illogical" and said the protesters would try to hold the rally on Sunday. Seven main political parties organized the rally as the high point of a four-day general strike that has shut down the capital Katmandu, where King Gyanendra's refusal to give up absolute rule has led to growing...

King of Nepal calls for talks on democracy (Filed: 20/02/2006) Nepal's King Gyanendra made his first formal approach to the country's estranged political parties yesterday, urging them to join talks and try to put democracy back on track a year after he seized absolute power and fired the government. "We, therefore, call on all willing political parties to come forth to fully activate, at the earliest, the stalled democratic process in the greater interest of the nation," King Gyanendra said in a national democracy day statement. The king also urged anti-monarchy Maoist rebels to shun violence and rejoin the mainstream....

NEW DELHI - Nepal’s King Gyanendra will ultimately be exiled or executed because he has closed the door to any political compromise since seizing absolute power a year ago, the reclusive leader of the country’s Maoist rebels said. “The king has taken steps that do not give any room for compromise,” Prachanda told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Monday. “It would be correct to say that the path that he has taken is the road to hell.” The Maoists have been fighting since 1996 to overthrow the world’s only Hindu monarchy and install communist rule, a revolution that...

WASHINGTON: The United States has slammed the elections in Nepal as a "hollow attempt on the part of the King to legitimise power" and said the only way to deal with the Maoist problem is to restore democracy in the Himalayan Kingdom. "The United States believes Nepal's Municipal elections called by the King on Thursday represented a hollow attempt to legitimize power," the state department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Wednesday. He said there was a clear lack of public support for the elections and the voter turnout in the capital is estimated under 25 percent. "Outside Kathmandu, turnout was...

Nepal's Maoist rebels entered a pact with opposition politicians yesterday in a move to isolate King Gyanendra, who seized full power nine months ago. Under the deal the communists, who control most rural areas, would lay down their arms under United Nations supervision while a new constitution is drafted. They say they will become a democratic party if the king is removed. More than 12,500 people have died in their near 10-year campaign to turn the Himalayan monarchy into a communist republic. The announcement came in statements from the Maoists and seven opposition parties, following recent talks in New Delhi....

13 July 2005: King Gyanendra and the Maoist insurgents have agreed for the UN to administer Nepal for a year within which internally-monitored elections will be held, and the scheme presented to UN secretary general Kofi Annan by US secretary of state Condoleezaa Rice was structured by India while the UK and Belgium co-sponsored it. Under the scheme, Gyanendra will hand over executive powers to the UN, while retaining the office of the constitutional monarchy, and the king gave in after the US threatened dispatch of a multinational force to take over Nepal and return it to democracy, and the...

King Gyanendra of Nepal has lifted the state of emergency, which was imposed since February 1, 2005. The state of emergency was lifted as per Article 115 (11) of the Constitution, effective from midnight, said a Royal Palace notice issued late night. The King had imposed the state of emergency after dismissing Sher Bahadur Deuba government and suspended fundamental rights and press freedom. The state of emergency needs to be approved by the House of Representatives within three months for further extension, as per the Constitution. The King's imposition of emergency had invited international criticism and many international donors cut...

[World News]: Kathmandu, Mar 5 : Waving portraits of King Gyanendra and chanting pro-monarchy slogans, hundreds of Buddhist monks today hit the streets of Kathmandu in support of the royal seizure of power. Wearing long saffron robes, more than 1,200 monks marched through the streets of Kathmandu appealing for "peace and stability", a day after police arrested a dozen activists of Nepal Communist Party-UML for challenging the power grab. "Long live the King,", "We want peace", "Our King and our country are dearer than life" read banners and placards carried by them. Dozens of riot police escorted the demonstration, which...

Disapproving the "lengthy" three-year time table set by King Gyanendra for restoring multi-party democracy in Nepal, the United States has urged him to "move quickly" towards starting a dialogue with political parties. "We don''t accept a lengthy timetable. We think that the King needs to move quickly to reinstate and protect civil and human rights, to release those who are detained under the state of emergency, and to begin a dialogue with the political parties intended to restore multi-party democratic institutions under a constitutional monarchy," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Friday. Pointing out that the majority of US...

KATHMANDU - "No news item, article or other reading material shall be censored," reads the first sentence of Article 13 of Nepal's constitution, promulgated after the restoration of democracy in early 1990. But this provision, together with articles covering the right to freedom of expression and the right to seek information on matters of public importance, currently stands suspended - through a decree King Gyanendra issued on February 1. Article 115 was invoked to declare a state of emergency, suspending some of the other rights Nepali citizens enjoyed, such as the right to property, the right to privacy and the...

KATHMANDU, FEB. 1. King Gyanendra today dismissed Nepal's Government and declared a state of Emergency, cutting off his Himalayan nation from the rest of the world as telephone and Internet lines were snapped, flights diverted and civil liberties severely curtailed. The move was the second time in three years that the King has taken control of the tiny South Asian constitutional monarchy, a throwback to the era of absolute power enjoyed by Nepal's monarchs before King Birendra, King Gyanendra's elder brother, introduced democracy in 1990. King Gyanendra denied his takeover was a coup, although soldiers surrounded the houses of the...