Nepal deputies set to vote on motion to end monarchy
Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:55am GMT
By Gopal Sharma

KATHMANDU, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Nepal's parliament is set to vote on a historic motion on Friday to abolish one of Asia's remaining few monarchies, part of a political pact with Maoist former rebels to move forward with a peace deal.


The vote comes days after the government agreed to abolish the Himalayan nation's nearly 240-year-old monarchy, ending months of political deadlock with the once-feared guerrillas.

But Nepal will become a republic only after the decision is endorsed by the first meeting of a special assembly due to be elected within mid-April next year.

"The parliament will vote on the motion today and incorporate a provision in the interim constitution to turn Nepal into a federal democratic republic which will be implemented after the constituent assembly elections," Subas Nemwang, the speaker of the legislature. "It is a compromise."

The Maoists have been insisting on an immediate abolition of the monarchy, a demand the government rejected saying it was against an earlier agreement to let the elected assembly decide the fate of the king who is traditionally considered an incarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu.

The row led the Maoists, who signed a peace deal with the government in 2006, to quit the interim government in a move that delayed the assembly polls earlier set for November and indefinitely clouded the pact.

The Maoists and the government said at the weekend that they had resolved the impasse. The Maoists say they will now rejoin the government and participate in the twice-postponed elections now likely in early 2008.

"That Nepal will become a federal democratic republic will be written in the constitution is not an ordinary thing," Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara said. "The implementation of the decision will take place gradually. It is okay."

Mahara said the motion would be passed easily by the required two-thirds majority of the 329-seat legislature because the ruling alliance and the Maoists who control more than 300 seats had the agreement.

But some critics said the move was wrong.

"They are not allowing the people to raise voice in favour of the monarchy. It is a farce," said Shrish Shumshere Rana, who was a member in King Gyanendra's government formed after he took absolute power in 2005.

The monarch, whose popularity has dipped ever since, bowed to weeks of bloody protests last year and handed power back to political parties.

This prompted last year's landmark deal between the government and the Maoists who ended their decade-long conflict which caused more than 13,000 deaths.

The new government has stripped the monarch of almost all powers including his control over the army, replaced king's picture in some currency notes by that of Mount Everest and removed the king's portraits from public buildings.

The state-run "Royal Nepal Airlines" has become Nepal Airlines now and the government's Nepal Academy of Science and Technology has dropped the word "Royal" before its name.

The responsibilities of the king as the head of state have been transferred to elderly Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala who also receives credentials from foreign ambassadors and attends some religious functions, duties earlier performed by the monarch. (Editing by Krittivas Mukherjee and Sanjeev Miglani)



Dec. 24 - The Nepalese government has agreed to abolish the monarchy as part of a deal to persuade Maoist former rebels to rejoin the interim administration.

Under the deal, Nepal's political parties are to hold elections next April to transform the kingdom into a federal republic. The move comes three months after Maoists pulled out of the government, demanding the monarchy be abolished.

Susan Flory, Reuters.