Saturday, April 22, 2006
Nepal - the king is going down. posted by Richard Seymour
The fact that the King has offered to return executive power "to the people" (presumably hoping to remain as a constitutional monarch and bide his time for a renewed putsch), and that this has been rejected suggests that this revolt is going all the way: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, which the party helped to orchestrate, 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, told the Guardian that 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."
It reminds one of the Iranian revolution, during which the Shah first tried to murder the rebels, then placate them, then finally was forced to flee "on holiday". The Guardian reports that the Maoist guerillas have been in Kathmandu, negotiating with the other parties and participating in the demonstrations. The opposition parties, it seems, are intent on a deal including the Maoists in a future government. One assumes that a democratic republic with multi-party competition will emerge, but whether a new government will be able to break the nepotistic power of the landowning and capitalist classes remains to be seen.