April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Nepal's Parliament, reinstated by King Gyanendra in response to two weeks of opposition protest rallies and a general strike, will meet today for the first time in almost four years.
The seven-party opposition alliance said the first task of the House of Representatives, dissolved in May 2002, will be to organize elections for an assembly to create a new constitution curbing the powers of the king, Nepalnews.com reported.
Girija Prasad Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress, the country's largest party and a member of the alliance, was appointed prime minister yesterday by King Gyanendra. Today's swearing-in ceremony has been postponed because the 85-year-old Koirala is ill, Agence France-Presse said, citing his spokesman.
King Gyanendra ruled the country through a Council of Ministers after firing the government and declaring a state of emergency in February 2005. He agreed to reopen Parliament after daily demonstrations in the capital, Kathmandu, and other cities provoked clashes between protesters and security forces.
Parliament ``can't compromise on the issue of holding elections for the constituent assembly to make people sovereign,'' Sher Behadur Deuba, president of the opposition Nepali Congress Democratic party, said yesterday, according to Nepalnews.com. Deuba was prime minister when his government was fired by the king last year.
Rights activities and civilian groups said they will gather in front of the parliament building to press lawmakers to fulfill their promises to organize elections, Nepalnews.com reported.
Opposition Leaders
Deuba and other opposition leaders addressed rallies yesterday in Kathmandu. Koirala was unable to join the meetings, Nepali Congress spokesman Krishna Sitaula said.
Koirala, who has suffered from respiratory ailments in recent years, was placed on a respirator yesterday to help his breathing, Sitaula said, according to Nepalnews.com.
``Doctors say he has greatly recovered,'' AFP cited Sitaula as saying early today. ``It is not possible for him to go to the Parliament today.''
The U.S. government, in a statement yesterday on the Web site of its embassy in Nepal, pledged its support to the new government and the country's efforts to create a ``functioning and effective multiparty democracy.''
The opposition parties and rebels fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist republic reached an agreement in November to press for democracy and curb the powers of the king. The insurgency in the Himalayan kingdom of 27 million people has cost the lives of 13,000 people since 1996.
Rebel Cease-Fire
The rebel Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) two days ago declared a three-month cease-fire after ending a blockade of Kathmandu imposed to support the general strike.
The truce is to help the ``people's struggle'' for a new assembly to be elected to revise the constitution, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the rebel leader known as Prachanda, said in a statement, Nepalnews.com reported at the time.
The assembly is an opportunity for the rebels to join the political process, the U.S. government said in its statement.
``But to participate in any elections, the insurgents must lay down their arms and renounce violence. The people of Nepal deserve nothing less,'' the U.S. government said.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan yesterday said the Nepalese government should join the cease-fire and appealed to both sides to engage in a ``patient dialogue'' to bring about a peace settlement, according to the UN's Web site.
The rebels should release abducted civilians and allow all political parties to operate without intimidation, Ian Martin, the representative of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal, said in an e-mailed statement yesterday.
Nepal's economy, which depends on tourism for foreign exchange, has been damaged by the strike and the insurgency. Agriculture accounts for 40 percent of gross domestic product and provides a livelihood for 80 percent of Nepal's population. An estimated 40 percent of Nepalese live below the poverty line.
