Its good to be King!
Posted on 01/31/2005 10:52:47 PM PST by Srirangan
Source: NDTV
Tuesday, February 1, 2005 (Kathmandu):
Nepal's King Gyanendra today dismissed the Sher Bahadur Deuba government and assumed power in the Himalayan Kingdom.
The monarch has accused the Deuba government of failing to restore peace and conducting parliamentary elections in the country.
"I have decided to dissolve the government because it has failed to make necessary arrangements to hold elections by April," the King said in a televised address to the nation.
The King maintained that the Deuba government had failed to protect democracy and sovereignty of the people.
King Gyanendra had appointed Deuba as Prime minister last year and asked him to conduct parliamentary elections and hold peace talks with the Maoist rebels.
Earlier, the King had sacked Deuba in 2002 for failing to hold elections, but asked him to form the government last year as the rebels stepped up insurgency in the Himalayan kingdom.
Nepal king dismisses government
Nepal's King Gyanendra has announced on state television that he has sacked the government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba.
He said he was taking over direct power because the administration had failed to fulfil its mandate.
Mr Deuba had been reappointed Nepal's prime minister last June, two years after King Gyanendra sacked him for failing to contain a Maoist insurgency.
The rebels recently failed to respond to a 13 January deadline set by Mr Deuba to hold peace talks.
The Associated Press reports that soldiers have surrounded the prime minister's residence and the homes of other government leaders.
"I have decided to dissolve the government because it has failed to make necessary arrangements to hold elections by April and protect democracy, the sovereignty of the people and life and property," the king said in his announcement.
The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says the announcement has plunged Nepal into uncertainty.
'Selfish'
"A new cabinet will be formed under my leadership," the king said.
"This will restore peace and effective democracy in this country within the next three years."
King Gyanendra also said the government had failed to restore peace with the Maoist rebels.
He accused the country's fractious political parties of behaving selfishly and of giving no thought to the Nepali people and the welfare of the country.
He himself, he added, was committed to democracy and multi-party rule.
Some 10,000 people have been killed in the nine-year-long Maoist insurgency.
Nepal King Sacks Government, Assumes Power
KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepali King Gyanendra sacked the government and assumed power himself Tuesday, saying the leadership had failed to hold elections or restore peace amid an escalating civil war with Maoist rebels.
Indian television channel NDTV said the king had taken power for the next three years and placed many politicians under house arrest.
"I have decided to dissolve the government because it has failed to make necessary arrangements to hold elections by April and promote democracy, the sovereignty of the people and life and property," the king said in an address on state radio.
Shortly afterwards telephone and mobile lines were apparently shut down in Kathmandu and communications links closed between the country and the rest of the world.
No further details were available.
The strategic Himalayan nation sandwiched between India and China is locked in a bitter three-way struggle among the king, the Maoist rebels and political parties who are often bitterly divided among themselves.
The king is often accused of overstepping his powers, and reappointed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba only last June, two years after sacking him for the same reasons he cited this time -- inability to tackle the long-standing revolt against the monarchy and failure to call an election.
In January, Deuba had promised to go ahead with the election despite the civil war and the refusal of the Maoists to come to peace talks by a Jan. 13 deadline.
But many members of Deuba's own cabinet were known to be unhappy with the election plan on grounds it was unrealistic in a country where the rebels control much of the countryside.
The rebels have been fighting since 1996 to replace the monarchy with a communist republic in a revolt that has cost around 11,000 lives.
The king himself had promised that elections would begin by the start of the Nepali new year in mid-April. Indian television said he accused political parties of factional fighting.
This is the fourth time the king has sacked a prime minister in less than three years. Nepal has had no parliament since 2002. Nepal is one of the world's poorest nations and its only Hindu kingdom. Many people still view the king as a reincarnation of the god Vishnu.
But the monarchy's reputation nosedived in 2001 when the crown prince, Dipendra, killed his father, the popular King Birendra, and several other royals in a palace massacre. He then turned the gun on himself.
Gyanendra was crowned king after the massacre, but has never been as popular as his brother Birendra.
Tens of thousands of tourists visit Nepal each year as it has eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest.
Attention all planets of the solar federation:
We have assumed control.
We have assumed control.
It kinda sad that King have assume power second time in three years
That tell you something about govt don't want reform or crackdown or unable crackdown on terrorist
They are terrorists
It's good to be the King.
>> Demand that India cooperate in this effort and stop secretly
>> aiding and abetting the Maoists out of fear of their own
>> Maoists.
That's one of the most uninformed statements I've read. India co-operates fully with Nepal in ending the Maoist rebellion in Nepal and the Naxalite rebellion in some Indian provinces.
Maoism is the fruit of China, not India. And I don't see any South Asian country in a position to 'demand' something from India.
Whole lotta "sacking" going on over there. :)
Thanks for sharing the news.
FYI
Nepalese astrologers failed to forsee royal nosedive ping.
Well I believe it is you who are incorrect. The Nepalese border with Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh are very strictly monitored and patrolled. These states border western Nepal, which is in grip of the Maoist violence.
India has its own Naxalite rebellion, the states affected are Bihar, Jharkand, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. Out of these states only Andhra Pradesh has a cease fire with the Naxalites. Geographically it would be impossible for the Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh to aid the Maoists in Nepal, as Andhra Pradesh lies in the far south of the country.
I do admit communism is a threat to the region, but it would be absurd to say India is supporting communism while India herself fights it. The mainstream communism in India has been democratized, and the rebel's make use of caste and ethnicity to fight democracy. But they too are fading away as prosperity and development reaches these people.
And make no mistake, China is the seed of all communism, especially the Maoist version of communism.
I remember that palace revolt. It reminded me of something that might have happened in ancient Egyptian times - but with a modern twist.
Just in...King Dipendra has resigned in order to pursue further activities with the Janjaweed Militia in Sudan.
The DNC just shipped John Kerry and Barbara Boxer over to Nepal to restore order.
Sen. Kerry was quoted on arrival at Katmandu airport, "It IS good to be the new king, but I hope one wouldn't lose their head over it."
The retiring lady from California commented, "This is all obviously a plot by Karl Rove, President Bush and Condi Rice. We'll do everything possible to restore democratic party rule here with some help from CBS, Harry Reid, the North Korean politburo and the heroic revolutionary people of the New York Times."
gee I wonder why, they've been so succesful in the past, you know with playing landgrab and all that...
Is this King Gyanendra or George Steinbrenner we're talking about here?
Thanks for the ping.
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