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Gyanendra offer to transfer powers to alliance

      Kathmandu: Bowing to the all-round pressure, Nepal's King Gyanendra on Friday announced to hand over the executive power to the seven-party Opposition alliance and asked them to name the new Prime Minister. The monarch's announcement made in a televised address, comes just a day after the Indian Prime Minister's special envoy, Karan Singh, met the King at his Narayanhiti Palace and stressed on the need for the restoration of democracy as early as possible. In the new set up announced, the monarch is expected to have a titular role on the lines of the proposed Nepal formula envisaged by the Indian Government.

     King Gyanendra in his address said: "We are committed to multi- party democracy and a constitutional monarchy", adding, "Executive power of the kingdom of Nepal, which was in our safekeeping, shall from this day be returned to the people". King Gyanendra, who emphasized on holding the elections as early as possible, said that the present Council of Ministers would continue to function till the new Council was not formed. Expressing the hope that the revival of the multi-party democracy would help in restoration of peace in the Himalayan kingdom, the King said that his country do not have any space for terrorism, in an indirect reference to the Maoist. Today's announcement comes on the 16th day of protests marked by violence as tens of thousands of people demonstrated on the streets of Kathmandu in spite of shoot-on-sight curfew orders, demanding the immediate restoration of multi-party democracy. On February 1, 2005, the Nepalese monarch had sacked the incumbent government and took over the reins of the power with a ceremonial Council of Ministers in place handpicked by the King himself.

     Meanwhile, the initial reactions in Kathmandu were positive as people cheered. However, the political parties were sceptic to the proposal and said that only after a face-to-face meeting with the King they could say something about the proposal. The Seven Party Alliances expressed unhappiness that the King's announcement did not mention about constituting a new Constituent Assembly. Communist Party of Nepal -Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), on the other hand, rejected the proposal offered by the King, saying "our demand for the formation of the new Constituent Assembly has not yet been fulfilled". The Nepali Congress said that it is not clear who would be named as the Prime Minister and demanded that Maoists too should be included and that the protests would continue since our demands are yet to be fulfilled. The curfew clamped in the Kathmandu continues and has been extended till midnight.

India welcomes Nepal King's decision

      New Delhi: India today welcomed King Gyanendra's announcement of handing executive power to the opposition Seven Party Alliances (SPA). Briefing reporters here today, External Affairs Ministry official spokesman, Navtej Sarna, said: "India welcomes his (King Gyanendra) intention to transfer all executive power of the State to a government constituted by the alliance of the seven political parties." "This action by His Majesty the King of Nepal, who has reaffirmed his commitment to multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy, should now pave the way for the restoration of political stability and economic recovery of the country," Sarna added. Lauding the people of Nepal for keeping faith in democracy and freedom, Sarna said: "We sincerely hope that the aspirations of the people of Nepal can now be addressed by enabling them to enjoy their rights through a democratic electoral exercise free from the threat of violence". Once again India reiterated its commitment to assist the people of Nepal in their hour of need and to help the nation achieve political stability and economic recovery as early as possible.

ACHR welcomes Gyanendra's decision

      New Delhi: Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR) today welcomed the proclamation by Nepal's King Gyanendra to restore democracy and handover power to the Seven Party Alliance (SAP) in his country. "It is a historic day for democracy in Nepal. However, without establishing the Constituent Assembly, the handing over of power to SAP will not resolve the root cause of the crisis in Nepal i.e. the Maoists conflict. It is an opportunity to resolve the Maoists crisis once and for all," said ACHR Director, Suhas Chakma. The ACHR, however, demanded immediate and unconditional release of all political detainees arrested since 1 February 2005, withdrawal of the draconian Terrorist and Disruptive Activities Ordinance, and setting up a Commission of Inquiry to inquire into the human rights violations since 1 February 2005, including the violations of the right to life during the ongoing pro-democracy movement. ACHR also urged the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) to refrain from all forms of hostilities and start meaningful negotiation for participation into the political mainstream.

Karan Singh submits Nepal report to PM

       New Delhi: India`s special envoy to Nepal, Karan Singh, on Friday submitted a report of his two-day visit to Kathmandu to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, and told reporters after the meeting that the Himalayan kingdom was heading towards a return to multi-party democracy. "We are hoping that there will be some major step towards reinstating democracy," Karan Singh told reporters. Singh's report is said to contain details of his meetings with Nepal's King Gyandendra, that country's army chief and a host of political leaders, apart from assessing the situation on ground. "I am not going into details. We must give time to the King to clearly think over it and not to dictate. Nepal is an independent country. We have done our bit," Singh said. He said that the Prime Minister "listened" to his brief in the presence of National Security Adviser M K Narayanan and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran. He also said that he had briefed Congress president Sonia Gandhi about his visit to Nepal.

      Meanwhile, with violence and anti-King protests continuing in Nepal, South Asia experts feel that days for King Gyanendra are numbered and the landlocked country could be heading for a Maoist takeover. Analysts say the political parties in Nepal, widely criticised for corruption and misrule when they had the chance to run the country, have failed to cash in on the public rage and win their trust. And as people remain wary of the politicians and squabble for power near inevitable, Ajay Sahani, Executive Director, Institute of Conflict Management, New Delhi, said the Maoists seem to be all set for a cakewalk to power. "Unfortunately, once the king collapses, the public support that they (political parties) enjoy, which is directed purely against the King, may begin to break away because the common enemy is no longer there. And, if the factions then resurface and you see a struggle for power among these groupings themselves, then the Maoists will be very quick to take advantage and to declare these political parties as people who have betrayed the nation, term them as enemies of the people and to marginalize the political parties once again. That is not a difficult task and I see the Maoist emerge as the single largest and most forceful entity in Nepal," Sahani said in an interview in New Delhi. The rebels had, in March, in an unprecedented move for the first time joined hands with the country's political parties to turn up the heat on King Gyanendra. The alliance might have been termed "unholy" by Gyanendra's establishment but Sahani says it was a preparation to win the war while others squabbled to win the battle. The rebels, he said, might have thrown their weight behind the political movement but have also flexed their military muscles stepping up attacks on towns and police posts and it was just a matter of time they walked to Kathmandu. "I believe the Maoists have entered into this agreement purely on a tactical level to use these parties to provoke these over ground demonstrations and protests. And, once the political parties have served the Maoist interests, they will also be sacrificed and then the Maoists will use a combination of democratic and insurgent methods or purely insurgent methods to capture power in Kathmandu," he said.

     But others, studying Nepal's crisis, say the King who wore the crown after the shocking massacre of his brother and his entire family by the love-struck crown prince, is unlikely to give up power easily. Pranay Sharma, former diplomatic correspondent with The Telegraph, warns the worst is probably still not over. "He (King Gyanendra) cannot stay away from power. If not today six months down the line he will try and do that to get back as much power as he can this is not the last of the crises that we have seen. As long as Gyanendra is there, there will be a number of other crisis in future," Sharma said. King Gyanendra sacked the government and took full powers in February 2005, vowing to crush a decade-old Maoist revolt in which more than 13,000 people have died. Anti-monarchy protests have since raged in the kingdom, with dozens being killed in clashes with police and the nation being brought to standstill by the incessant shutdowns and strikes. Gyanendra has vowed to hold elections by April 2007, but Nepal's political arties say he is not to be trusted and must hand over power to an all-party government immediately. Local reports say the king is likely to name the former Prime Minister, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, to the post in an effort to appease the protesters. But Bhattarai has apparently indicated he will only take the post if it is acceptable to the seven-party alliance. Meanwhile, anti-king protest continued in Nepal capital as pro- democracy activists took to the streets for the second day despite a curfew and shoot-at-sight orders. The protestors took to the streets in response to the call by the seven-party political alliance to hold fresh protests and march to the Narayanhiti Royal Palace. The curfew has been extended till 8 pm (local time) and the Government has directed the people in Kathmandu to observe it strictly.

Jaswant Singh to visit Nepal on April 24

      New Delhi/Kathmandu: Senior BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh will visit Kathmandu on Monday. Addressing a news conference here today, Singh said that he had discussed the Nepalese crisis with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ahead of his visit. He told reporters that he advocated strengthening both monarchy and people's democracy in the neighbouring country. "The first priority should be the earliest restoration of peace and confidence between political parties and the monarchy in Nepal," he said. Jaswant Singh described both the King and democracy as two pillars of Nepal's constitutional monarchy. Asked about his comments on King Gyanendra's absolute control on the royal army of Nepal, Singh called the matter an internal affair of the neighbouring country. Singh's visit to the Nepal capital comes two days after the Indian Government's Special Envoy, Karan Singh, visited Kathmandu for talks with Nepal's King Gyanendra, various political leaders and the country's army chief, General Pyar Jung Thapa, to reportedly impress upon them the need for restoring multi-party democracy in the kingdom. The visit of a cross-section of Indian leaders assumes significance in the wake of hundreds of protestors taking to the streets of Kathmandu for the second consecutive day in defiance of an 11-hour-long curfew imposed by the Royalist Government. Shoot-at-sight orders have been given to the country's security forces. The protesters are demanding that King Gyanendra give up absolute power, which he seized on February 1, 2005 after sacking the elected government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. So far, three demonstrators have been shot dead and many others have been injured. According to reports, King Gyanendra is expected to make an announcement today, outlining the road to democracy. The royal government insists the pro-democracy protestors are supporters of armed Communist rebels opposed to the King. Singh also supported Indian intervention in the immediate neighbourhood, saying the move was necessary on grounds of New Delhi's own security concerns.