• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Nepal parties delay checking king's powers

Posted on: Monday, 15 May 2006, 05:35 CDT

By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Nepal's seven mainstream parties put off a plan on Monday to table a landmark resolution in parliament to curtail the powers of the king, including taking away his control of the army.

The proclamation, which is expected to override the existing 1990 constitution, would now be tabled after an expansion of the cabinet and a debate there, political party leaders said after a three-hour meeting.

It was expected to be presented to parliament on Thursday, the leader of one of the parties said.

"The cabinet is not complete yet. By Tuesday or Wednesday it will be expanded and the expanded cabinet will give a final shape to the draft and it will be presented to parliament," said Madhav Kumar Nepal, general-secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal (UML).

Cutting the king's powers was a key demand of pro-democracy protesters during weeks of demonstrations last month which led to King Gyanendra reinstating parliament and handing over administration to a multi-party government.

The proclamation is expected to wrest control of the army from the king and give it to parliament.

But independent Kantipur TV said some politicians were not comfortable with the idea of also stripping the king of his formal title of supreme commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

"BACKED BY PEOPLE"

The administration would no longer be known as "His Majesty's Government" and the king's key advisory body, the Raj Parishad or privy council, is likely to be abolished.

Besides, the draft aims to tax the king's income and property and allow his actions to be challenged in court.

"This will be above the constitution," said Lila Mani Pokharel, a legislator. "The provisions of the existing constitution that contradict the proposed proclamation will be ineffective."

"No one will be able to challenge this because it has the force and backing of the popular movement for democracy," he said, referring to last month's protests.

Political parties are also under pressure to turn Nepal, the world's only Hindu nation, into a secular state.

Some two dozen protesters with placards saying "Declare Nepal a secular state" pinned to their chest demonstrated outside the venue of the seven-party meeting.

King Gyanendra came into direct conflict with political parties after he sacked the government and assumed power in February 2005 saying the parties had failed to tackle a Maoist revolt.

The Maoists have been fighting a bloody war against the king for more than a decade in which over 13,000 people have been killed.

New Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has matched a rebel ceasefire which the king had earlier rejected and invited the Maoists for talks.

The parties and the Maoists have agreed to hold elections to an assembly to draft a new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy. But no dates have been set for the vote.

Source: REUTERS

More News in this Category