Wish to be monarch again
After six years he surrendered his power to the political parties, former king of Nepal Gyanendra Shah has finally come out to speak his wishes – that he wants to be reinstated as monarch of the country but with purely ceremonial role.
In an exclusive interview with local TV channel ‘News 24’ on Sunday evening, a day after he turned 66, Shan claimed the parties had in 2006 agreed to retain the monarchy. He hinted, political course changed following the entry of the then underground Community Party of Nepal (Maoists) into the stage.
The agreement, according to him, “included the reinstatement of the dissolved parliament, the appointment of a prime minister from among the parties, and restoration of constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy,” he said.
In 2006 under intense pressure from seven political parties, with support from the underground Maoists, the king agreed to reinstate the dissolved parliament, which curtailed most of his powers. After its election, the Constituent Assembly of Nepal abolished the monarchy in 2008, after 240 years of reign, and renamed the country as ‘Democratic Republic of Nepal’.
As committed while leaving the royal palace to stay in Nepal until his death, Shah chose to stay back and look closely at the political development in the country. Since last year, he started travelling across the country and meet people on pretext to visit holy places and offer worships. He has started blogging as well.
With his increased travel itineraries and growing political turmoil, support for former monarch is growing. Thousands of people greeted him during his recent visit to southern districts. More people turned out to hear the pro-royalist party compared to joint public rally by 27 parties recently in Kathmandu.
Political turmoil
His statements and visits come at a time of increased political instability in the country.
The Constituent Assembly that abolished monarchy and was mandated to write a new constitution, dissolved after 4 years without giving any constitutional solution to the country due to political differences. The parties remain divided on major issues including type of federalism, number of states, structure of governance and many more. Ethnic rife has reached the peak with most ethnic leaders from major parties announcing to form ‘ethnic parties’. The government has announced polls for November to form a new Constituent Assembly but most parties have said they oppose this.
The BBC’s John Narayan Parajuli in Kathmandu said that many ordinary Nepalese are also frustrated with the failure of their politicians to make progress on key issues like unemployment.
He says it is unclear how many would see the return of the king, even in a ceremonial role, as a welcome development.
Former King Shah said political and constitutional vacuum is being created due to ‘lack of political vision’ in the leadership. He said, he wishes to see peaceful and integrated Nepal. He repeatedly mentioned that monarchy would return if people want and asked people to tell their leader for his reinstatement. According to Kathmandu based Kantipur daily, Shah feels people want monarchy in Nepal.
Parties have opposed Shah’s statement. They mentioned Shah lied.
Madhav Kumar Nepal, who was virtually second in command of the 2006 uprising, told BBC that there had never been such an agreement. He challenged Shah to furnish such evidence. Girija Prasad Koirala, who led the movement, has already died.