Nepal king offers opposition role

[IndianaGreen]

Nepal king offers opposition role

Nepal's King Gyanendra has called on opposition parties to put forward their candidate for prime minister, after weeks of protest against him.

In a televised address, he said he would return power to the people, but gave no date for elections to be held.

The offer came on the 16th day of protests against his direct rule.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4931000.stm

[IndianaGreen]

1. Nepal king says he’ll restore democracy (MSNBC)

Nepal king says he’ll restore democracy

Details unclear; shift follows huge protests and deadly clashes a day earlier

KATMANDU, Nepal - Nepal’s king vowed Friday to return political power to the people of this Himalayan kingdom, 14 months after he seized control and set off a political crisis that drew tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters to the streets.

In a nationwide address, King Gyanendra said executive power “shall be returned to the people from this day forward.”

It was unclear, however, exactly how such a transfer of power would take place and whether it would mollify his political opponents.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12398879/

[David__77]

2. He must be arrested or leave the country.

There is no alternative. He has blood on his hands and must be held to account for the crimes against the people.

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. As an aside: on the British Queen's 80th birthday, the Independent

(which is an anti-monarchy paper in the UK) had this as its front page:



Not a coincidence, I think. :evilgrin:

[WhiteTara]

4. don't just know he parades around in this getup

in his bedroom looking at himself in the mirror?
:rofl:

[OKNancy]

5. Kick

[Patsy Stone]

6. Time: Will the King's Retreat End Nepal's Turmoil?

Gyanendra agrees to hand power to a prime minister, but opposition parties want a new constitution

By ARAVIND ADIGA
Posted Friday, Apr. 21, 2006

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1186432,00.html

After a fortnight of defying the mass pro-democracy protests that have roiled his country, Nepal's King Gyanendra on Friday finally gave in: In a somber television address to the nation, he promised to restore democracy to this picturesque Himalayan nation, and agreed to hand over executive power to a prime minister picked by the pro-democracy coalition.

"Executive power of the kingdom of Nepal, which was in our safekeeping, shall from this day be returned to the people," the King said. Gyanendra, who had suspended democracy and seized direct power in February 2005, undertook to hand the reins of government to a prime minister picked by the alliance of seven political parties that has spearheaded the campaign against him.

His speech came after a tense day that saw thousands of protestors defying curfew laws to take to the streets of Nepal to demand change. Friday's protests were reported to be largely peaceful, but at least ten protestors have been killed in clashes with the police since the mass protests against the King began on April 6.

Nepal's powerful neighbor, India, quickly welcomed the King's announcement, although many of the protestors dismissed Gyanendra's announcement as too little, too late. While welcoming the monarch's decision to hand over power to the political parties, Minendra Rijal, a spokesman for the Nepali Congress (Democratic), was angered by the King's failure to express any remorse over the killing and injuring of protestors over the past two weeks. The King has been accused by his detractors of being remote and cut off from everyday reality in Nepal — an impression reinforced for many by his failure to appear contrite or reconciliatory in his speech. "This man simply does not understand how people have been hurt, how people have been wounded, during these protests," said Rijal.

[leftchick]

7. it is NOT getting better

CNN finally decided to cover this with video and it is looking worse today.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

8. Nepal crisis: India showed Gyanendra the way out

Nepal's King Gyanendra has India to thank for allowing him to backtrack and offer to hand over power to the seven-party alliance (SPA).

A "complete autocrat," Gyanendra did not want to appear weak by "caving in" to demands to restore democracy, analysts said.

He agreed to revert to the situation prevailing before he assumed absolute power on February 1, 2005, when the Prime Minister's Special Envoy Karan Singh, whom he considered his equal, offered him the option.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1680684,001300980002.htm


This is definately the best news of the week.

[Kagemusha]

9. You sure it's good news?

His survival as king - and his survival, period - are in question. His promises aren't being considered worth anything. Once he's gone, all bets are off. Where's the good news in this?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

10. Sounds like he is willing to compromise

more than he has been.

[Kagemusha]

11. What HE is willing to do has long ceased to matter.

If the public wants his head, his willingness to compromise will simply be viewed as weakness showing he is finally cracking and the time to seize his head is now.

[killbotfactory]

12. Because kings are bad

Democracy > Kingdoms

[norml]

13. King of Nepal's god-like status shaken

King of Nepal's god-like status shaken

Sam Taylor | Kathmandu, Nepal


22 April 2006 07:36

Nepal's King Gyanendra, who has pledged to "return sovereignty to the people" after massive and violent street protests, has seen his god-like status badly shaken.

Now, with demonstrators' cries of "Hang the king" and "Leave the palace, we will run the country" still ringing in the air, the question remains whether the wily king can remain on the throne or even whether the monarchy as an institution will survive in the desperately poor nation.

King Gyanendra was vaulted to the throne in June 2001 in bizarre circumstances when his brother, King Birendra, and other royals were murdered at the palace in an attack blamed on a drunken crown prince who later shot himself.

But the unsmiling monarch never attained the popularity of his more genial, well-loved brother, who was seen as a symbol of unity in Nepal.

The monarch, traditionally revered as the incarnation of the Hindu god of protection, Lord Vishnu, sacked the government and seized power in February last year, saying the move was necessary to crush a deadly, decade-old Maoist revolt.

King Gyanendra gave himself three years to restore elected rule and end the insurgency. But instead he was forced on Friday to announce he was cutting short his absolute rule after just 14 months.


snip


http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=269841&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/

[magellan]

14. Would it come as any shock to know BushCo has donated at least $20M

...to this clown and his military? Can you say "propping up another RW authoritarian puppet"?

I knew ya could.

[killbotfactory]

15. Oh Golly!

Well, he was fighting a group of Maoists... and we all know how much Bush hates China.

[IndianaGreen]

16. Well, that's news to me

Today's news about new demonstrations in Kathmandu indicate that nothing short of Gyanendra's abdication will please the Nepalise people. The king is toast!

The irony is that replacing King Gyanendra with a republic will lead to a government led by the Nepal Communist Party. While Bush has been destroying America from within and without in pursuing his Messianic vision, a red tide is beginning to sweep the world.

But after meeting on Saturday, the seven-party opposition alliance rejected the king's offer.

"We will not accept...We will continue the protests," Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of Communist Party of Nepal told cheering supporters in Kathmandu.

The opposition parties complained that the king had failed to address some of their most basic demands, not least the creation of a constituent assembly to decide the future of the monarch.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4932894.stm