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Nepal's Political Parties, Others React to King's Address to Nation

Posted on: Wednesday, 1 February 2006, 12:00 CST

Text of report by Nepalese radio HBC 94 FM on 1 February

[Presenter] Various political leaders and representatives of civil society have given their reaction to the king's address to the nation. They have said that the king did not offer anything new other than to reiterate his road map for democracy, which was outlined in the Royal proclamation exactly a year ago. They have also claimed that the address did not have anything to take the country out of the political crisis.

Speaking at the Reporter's Club in the capital to give their reaction to the royal address Standing Committee member of the CPN- UML [Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)], K. P. Sharma Oli said it was regrettable that there was no mention of any cease-fire to try and address the conflict in the country. He said the address by the king did not seem to address the conflict because the king had termed the cease-fire declared by the Maoists only as a ploy to deceive the people. He said this proved that the government was not serious about establishing peace.

CPN-UML leader K. P. Sharma Oli also said that the address was not targeted towards the political parties and he claimed that the king was trying to isolate the opposition. And he reiterated this earlier stance that there was no alternative to the present agitation to resolve the country's problems.

Speaking at the programme, the leader of the Nepali Congress Dr Ramsharan Mahat said even though the king addressed issues based on principles and values, the king's address had sidelined the political parties. Mahat also claimed that the king was now trying to hold parliamentary elections in the same manner as it was going to hold the local elections which did not have the participation of the people and parties. He also said that over the past one year, political uncertainty had increased dramatically, and that the king's address to the nation was only focused on justifying his royal rule.

And leader of the Nepali Congress (Democratic) Homnath Dahal said there was no other alternative but to strengthen the present agitation and mass movement against the government. And he appealed to the security forces to carry out their duties within limits, considering the consequences they might have to face in the future. He also said that the state did not appear concerned with the deteriorating situation in the country. And he claimed that the king had failed to open the doors for dialogue with the political parties.

RPP [Rastriya Prajatantra Party] spokesperson Parsuram Khapung said that the royal address had excluded the political parties from the political process and he said there was no alternative to dialogue and understanding if the king and the parties were serious about resolving problems facing the nation. And he said that all political actors must he cautious of wrong and vested suggestion which might come their way. And representative of civil society Sundar Mani Dixit said that the king had still not opened the doors for dialogue because he had failed to address political actors who were not carrying guns.

Source: BBC Monitoring South Asia

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