Posted on 05/28/2008 11:44:29 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
KATHMANDU: Nepal on Wednesday scripted a new chapter in its turbulent history as the new constituent assembly abolished the 240-year-old monarchy and declared the country a "secular, federal democratic republic".
The 601-member assembly met at the Birendra International Convention Centre on Wednesday evening where a motion was passed to declare the country the world's newest republic.
After a series of meetings, the Seven Party Alliance agreed to table the motion of republic in the first meeting of the constituent assembly, dominated by Maoists.
Out of 601 members of the constituent assembly, 572 were present during Wednesday's meeting.
The motion to declare the country a republic was moved by Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitola on behalf of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.
The motion was passed by 560 votes in favour while four members opposed it.
The motion said that Nepal will be secular, federal, democratic republic nation and King Gyanendra will be reduced to a common citizen.
The king will lose all the cultural, administrative and political powers. The king and the royal family members will enjoy the rights that are meant for any common man, the motion said.
It said the May 28 will be celebrated as the Republic Day of the nation every year. There will be president who will be the head of the state while the prime minister will be the executive head.
The four members who opposed the motion are members of the pro-king Rashtriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, constituent assembly chairman Kulbahadur Gurung announced after the voting.
The country was declared republic as per Article 159 of the interim constitution, he said.
That's a short lived "democratic republic". All hail Mao!
what!, No....Peoples Federal Democratic Republic of (insert).....
It's going to work here too. Any complaint about trillions for Cap-and-Trade or 25 million illegals-made-citizens will be met with "He's your President. The people voted for him. This is a democracy."
You have changed what was actually said. The true quote is -
After a series of meetings, the Seven Party Alliance agreed to table the motion of republic in the first meeting of the constituent assembly, dominated by Maoists.
The motion was temporarily tabled because of the Maoists domination of the meetings but it was later passed over them. However, even with a minority strong enough to cause the tabling of the emotion until later the Maoists will continue to be a threat to the new republic.
Nepal: Indian envoy pokes nose in Nepali affairs again - May 30, 2008 - Rakesh Sood met the Maoists duo, Comrade Prachanda and Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai at the Naya Bazaar Residence of Comrade Prachanda, this afternoon. We are flabbergasted as to why he (Ambassador Sood) is so friendly to our party we have discussed this Indian magnanimity in the partys meeting recently, a Maoists leader was quoted as saying in a vernacular weekly last week. Mr. Sood was mainly criticized for acting as a spokesperson of the Maoists Party in Nepal. His credentials are now being held suspect in Nepal.
India lost a friend with Nepal kings ouster - May 30th, 2008 - India has lost a friend and will have to pay a dear price one day," ....The official, who was privy to many important palace decisions, predicted that the rise of the former Maoist guerrillas in Nepal with Indian backing would pave the way for a similar situation in the sub-continent. In the 2014 election, India will see (Indian Naxalite leader) Ganapati come to power, he said. He is a close friend of (Nepal Maoist supremo) Prachanda and Nepals Chure Bhawar region (a mountainous terrain in southern Nepal that is clamouring for autonomy) will be turned into training camps for Indian Maoists. Will India, where 40 percent of the populace is affected by the Naxalite movement, accept that with equanimity? By having nurtured the Maoists during the 10-year Peoples War waged by the Maoists to end monarchy in Nepal, India, he said, was repeating its Sri Lanka strategy of helping the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants. The Nepal Maoists are aware that India helped them to retain its control over Nepal, he said. In the end, India will not have a single friend left in the neighbourhood...."
CRPF trooper killed in Maoist attack - May 30th, 2008 - Raipur, May 30 (IANS) A trooper of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) was killed and another critically injured Friday when Maoist guerrillas attacked them at an interior villages weekly market in Chhattisgarhs restive Dantewada district. Rahul Sharma, superintendent of police Dantewada, told newspersons that a group of 15-20 armed rebels attacked the CRPF troopers deployed at forested Katekalyan villages weekly market. Sharma said the rebels opened fire in which one trooper died on the spot, while another sustained bullet wounds. The injured trooper was taken to government hospital at district headquarters Dantewada. The rebels took away the dead troopers self-loading rifle.
Maoists kill cop - May 30 2008 - VISAKHAPATNAM: A constable belonging to the elite anti-Naxal force Greyhounds died while another injured in an exchange of fire between the police and Maoists near Gunukurai village in Gudem Kotha Veedhi mandal on the Andhra-Orissa border last night[Wednesday]. The victim Anil, a native of Uttar Pradesh, died while taking part in the operation in the deep forests near Gunukurai after midnight. According to senior officials, the Maoists, who triggered a landmine blast, exchanged fire with the special police party, which was combing the area, for about 30 minutes and managed to flee the scene. On receipt of information, additional forces stationed at Chintapalli and Gudem Kotha Veedhi mandal headquarters were rushed to the area and the police have intensified combing operations to apprehend the Maoists. The hot pursuit of the Maoists by the police continued for few more hours and both sides exchanged fire after midnight but the Maoists escaped again. In the second exchange of fire, Anil was killed and another constable was injured. The injured constable was airlifted to Narsipatnam hospital where his condition is stable. Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Gunukurao and nearby villages as the police intensified their combing operations.
Gun-toting teenagers join Maoist ranks - Jamshedpur, May 29: When the police arrested two Maoists for last weeks murder of 26-year-old Sushen Murmu who was part of a citizens outfit floated to counter extremists, they didnt expect to hear what they did: a sizeable number of boys between 13 and 16 had joined the rebel ranks. If there was an uneasy calm prevailing at Naxal-affected Mechhrisole village under Ghurabandha police station in Ghatshila sub-division it was here that an armed Maoist squad killed the member of the Nagarik Surasha Samiti (NSS) it was because the arrested duo was feared to have revealed a lot. Superintendent of police Naveen Kumar Singh confirmed the NSSs claims, adding young men, many of them in their early teens, were involved in the murder of Murmu. We have arrested two young rebels who have revealed everything that led to Murmus murder. We have names of key persons involved in the murder, he told The Telegraph. The arrested duo the elder one claimed to have passed the matric exams conducted by the Jharkhand Academic Council revealed they had been assigned to kill Vikram Murmu and Arjun Hembram, both active members of the Nagarik Suraksha Samiti, besides Murmu.
Hindus vow to protect Nepal's embattled monarch - Apr 28, 2008 - LUCKNOW, India (AFP) Hardline Hindus have vowed an "armed struggle" to save Nepal's King Gyanendra from losing his throne after former Maoist rebels swept elections in the home of the world's last Hindu monarchy. Dozens of Hindu leaders who met in northern India for the annual conference of the Kathmandu-based World Hindu Federation pledged to protect King Gyanendra "at all cost," a Hindu leader told AFP on Monday. "He is worthy of worship by all Hindus and we will protect him and bring him back to power at all cost," said Yogi Kaushalendranath, head priest of the Devi Patan temple in Uttar Pradesh state where the weekend meeting took place. "Ending the kingship is like defeating Hinduism."
The conference listened to a message from Nepal's King Gyanendra, whose hold on power has become increasingly tenuous in the wake of an upset victory by former Maoist rebels who have long called for a republic. The Maoists, who fought a bloody insurgency that ended in 2006 with 13,000 dead, have won over a third of the seats in a new assembly that will draft a fresh constitution -- double the number of seats of their nearest rivals. Last week, the former rebels reiterated their pledge to abolish the monarchy as soon as a new interim government sits. But the Indian priest said Hindus could not allow that to happen. "We cannot tolerate this and will start an armed struggle against the Maoists," he said, without providing details on what the groups planned to do.
Hindu group threatens armed revolt in Nepal - Apr 29, 2008 - Mr. Bharat Keshar Singh, the current President of the World Hindu Federation- Nepal said that he will lead the armed revolt against the State. "The revolt will begin from the Tarai region of Nepal", Mr. Singh added. King Gyanendras message was read during the meeting. Scores of leaders associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - Indias main opposition party had attended the meeting.
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