Nepalese Stage Victory Rallies as Opposition Plans New Assembly
By: Administrative Account | Source: Bloomberg
April 26, 2006 12:57AM EST

April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Hundreds of thousands of Nepalese attended rallies in towns and cities after King Gyanendra agreed to demands to reinstate Parliament, as the opposition said new elections will create an assembly to redraft the constitution. Marches took place in the capital, Kathmandu, and other cities yesterday after more than two weeks of protest rallies and a general strike forced the king to agree to recall Parliament, Nepalnews.com reported. Parliament will install an interim government and call elections for an assembly to create a new constitution in the Himalayan kingdom of 27 million people, Nepalnews.com cited Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), as saying yesterday in Kathmandu. King Gyanendra imposed a state of emergency in February 2005 after dismissing the government for failing to control a 10-year insurgency by rebels. Protests organized by a seven-party opposition alliance culminated in this month's general strike and rallies that brought daily confrontations between demonstrators and security forces. The alliance has nominated Girija Prasad Koirala, president of the Nepali Congress party, as prime minister of the interim government. The 85-year-old Koirala held the post in 1991. Rebel Statement Nepal said yesterday the opposition alliance is committed to the agreement it reached with rebels last November to press for democracy and curb the powers of the king. The rebels are fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist republic in a conflict that has cost the lives of 13,000 people since 1996. The rebels, in a statement yesterday, said reinstating Parliament isn't part of its agreement with the opposition and called on people to continue public protests to demand elections for a new assembly, Nepalnews.com said. The U.S. government two days ago said King Gyanendra should hand over power to political parties and ``assume a ceremonial role in his country's governance.'' The country's constitution was changed in 1990, creating a multiparty system, further weakening the power of the monarchy after the introduction of a non-party political system in 1960. State-of-emergency regulations introduced in 2005 restricted political parties and the media and were denounced by the international community led by the United Nations, the U.S. and neighboring India. King Gyanendra said at the time he would hold parliamentary elections by April 2007. Detainees Released Nepalese authorities have told the UN they will release people arrested during this month's demonstrations, Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said yesterday, according to the UN. More than 1,000 people were arrested during the protests. The UN has condemned the excessive use of force by security personnel, which led to the killing of at least 14 people when police fired on demonstrators. The general strike, which included the blocking of main highways, has prevented food supplies reaching about half a million Nepalese school children needing aid, the UN's World Food Program said. ``The crisis has put vulnerable communities in danger,'' Anthony Banbury, the WFP's regional director for Asia, said in a statement yesterday, according to the UN's Web site. ``Children have not been fed in schools, mothers and pregnant women have not received nutritional support and communities have not received food to support their poorest members.'' Nepal's economy, which depends on tourism for foreign exchange, has been damaged by the dispute and the communist 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. The country is home to Mount Everest, the tallest peak, which attracts climbers from around the world and is reputed to be the birthplace of the Buddha.

To contact the reporter for this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at ptighe@bloomberg.net Last Updated: April 25, 2006 21:41 EDT