Nepal's king calls for peace amid strike
Wednesday, 20 February 2008
KATHMANDU, Feb 19 (AFP): Nepal's sidelined monarch issued a rare statement Tuesday, calling for peace as the ethnically-tense south of the country entered the seventh day of a violent general strike.
King Gyanendra's call also came less than two months before crucial elections as part of the Himalayan nation's peace process, which are expected to result in the abolition of the monarchy.
The statement marks Democracy Day, when Nepal commemorates the return to power in 1951 of Gyanendra's Shah dynasty after the impoverished country had been ruled for just over 100 years by hereditary prime ministers.
But now it is the 239-year-old Shah dynasty that is on its way out, with mainstream parties and Maoist insurgents -- who signed a peace deal in late 2006 -- having agreed to declare a republic after polls on April 10.
The elections will be for a body to rewrite the constitution, but unrest in Nepal's southern Terai region by ethnic Mahadhesi activists has threatened to cause yet another delay for the polls.
King Gyanendra's call also came less than two months before crucial elections as part of the Himalayan nation's peace process, which are expected to result in the abolition of the monarchy.
The statement marks Democracy Day, when Nepal commemorates the return to power in 1951 of Gyanendra's Shah dynasty after the impoverished country had been ruled for just over 100 years by hereditary prime ministers.
But now it is the 239-year-old Shah dynasty that is on its way out, with mainstream parties and Maoist insurgents -- who signed a peace deal in late 2006 -- having agreed to declare a republic after polls on April 10.
The elections will be for a body to rewrite the constitution, but unrest in Nepal's southern Terai region by ethnic Mahadhesi activists has threatened to cause yet another delay for the polls.