Nepal's King Gyanendra vowed to give up power but not the throne yesterday in a last-ditch attempt to placate protesters and win over political parties who want to end the 237-year-old rule of the Shah dynasty. A pale-looking monarch took to the airwaves to announce he would give up the absolute powers he seized 14 months ago and accept a government formed by the main political parties, writes Randeep Ramesh in Kathmandu
In a little more than two weeks, the kingdom has gone awry. Demonstrators have poured onto the streets of the capital despite bans and curfews - more than 100,000 converged on the western edge of the city yesterday. At least 14 people have been killed in the violence and hundreds injured.
In an address broadcast on state television the monarch thanked the army for its "discipline and valour" but conspicuously did not refer to the dead or injured protesters. His concession was that "executive power . . . shall, from this day, be returned to the people".
Groups gathered around Kathmandu after the speech, with some marchers chanting "Hail democracy! Gyanendra leave the country!" Within minutes the largest political party, the Nepali Congress, dismissed the king's gambit, saying the monarch had "not clearly addressed the road map of the protest movement". The demonstrations would continue, the spokesman added.
Since last November the seven largest parties and the Maoist guerrillas have come to an understanding that would see the rebels give up the gun in return for elections to an assembly that would rewrite the constitution, making the crown powerless or obsolete.
Sujata Koirala, of the Nepali Congress, said the king was not making "a major concession at all. We have asked to reactivate the parliament so that a new constitutional settlement can be worked out. He has not listened." Analysts also pointed out that under the king's gesture, the army would remain loyal to him, not the politicians.
Tens of thousands of people again tried to enter the city limits from the suburbs yesterday despite police orders that they withdraw. They burned tyres and tore up pavements. Many more endured charges by security forces. Most vowed that the battle would continue until Nepal became a republic. - (Guardian service)