Nepali monarch to devolve power as protests mount
Nepali monarch to devolve power as protests mount
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Friday, 21, Apr 2006 05:39
King Gyanendra, the ruler of Nepal, has backed down in the face of violent anti-monarchy protests in the Himalayan state by pledging to devolve power to the civilian government.
Addressing the nation on television this afternoon, the Nepalese monarch called on the coalition of opposition parties to nominate a prime minister and to form a council of ministers as a matter of urgency.
His statement follows a fortnight of increasingly violent pro-democracy protests across the country, which has seen at least 12 people killed and hundreds injured.
"Executive power of the kingdom of Nepal, which was in our safekeeping, shall from this day be returned to the people," King Gyanendra said in the televised address.
"We ask the seven-party alliance to recommend the name for the post of prime minister at the earliest for the constitution of a council of ministers, which will bear the responsibility of governing the country in accordance with the constitution."
King Gyanendra has held absolute governmental control over Nepal since February 2005, when he sacked the entire government following an escalation of violence by Maoist rebels.
His authoritarian stance has attracted criticism both at home and abroad, with the EU in particular voicing concerns about the suppression of pro-democracy campaigners in Nepal.
Today's move has been welcomed by the EU, with a spokesman for the EU Austrian presidency telling the Reuters news agency: "We hope this opens the path to a peaceful process in Nepal and to a situation of renewed stability and dialogue."
However, the response in Nepal has been mixed, with Krishna Prasad Sitaula, a spokesman for the opposition Nepali Congress party, suggesting that the king's address had not "addressed the roadmap of the protest movement".
"Our protest campaign will continue," he said.
Earlier today, the king imposed a shoot-on-sight curfew in the capital, Kathmandu, in a bid to quell the demonstrations, which has since been extended until midnight local time (18:00 BST).
An estimated 13,000 people have died since the Maoist insurgency began ten years ago.