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Nepal poised to abolish monarchy
2008-05-28
Nepal was set for a historic change Wednesday with a new assembly dominated by former Maoist rebels poised to sweep away the Himalayan kingdom's 240-year-old monarchy and declare a republic. Political leaders began gathering for the delayed meeting late on Wednesday as two small bombs went off in the capital, injuring one person, police said. Police said they suspected a previously unknown Hindu fundamentalist group staged the attacks as well as a string of other bombings earlier in the week. "Nepal will be transformed into a federal democratic republic and the king will be replaced by a president," peace minister Ram Chandra Poudel told reporters as he entered the conference hall. Once the monarchy is abolished, King Gyanendra will have 15 days to leave his sprawling palace in the heart of Kathmandu, he said. Despite a ban on gatherings outside the complex where the new constitutional body was meeting, thousands of people thronged the area to fete Nepal's first "republic day." "We are here to put pressure on them to announce a republic quickly," said Mohan Ghising, 48, a Maoist political worker who was part of a group waving large red flags emblazoned with a hammer and sickle. "We don't want them to delay." "This is a golden day for Nepal and the Nepalese. It's the end of an era and the start of a new era," said Sagar, head of the Maoists' Young Communist League which has mobilised thousands of supporters and who goes by one name. But last-minute jockeying for places in Nepal's new political landscape delayed the historic moment, originally scheduled to take place in the morning. The constitutional assembly's first meeting marked the culmination of a 2006 peace deal deal that brought the Maoists out of the hills and jungles of one of the world's poorest countries and into the mainstream. The Maoists have told Gyanendra and his son Crown Prince Paras -- loathed for his alleged playboy lifestyle -- to bow out gracefully or else face "strong punishment." Gyanendra was vaulted to the throne by the 2001 slaying of his popular brother Birendra and most of the royal family by a drink-and-drug-fuelled crown prince who later killed himself. Although seen by loyalists as the reincarnation of a Hindu god, Gyanendra never managed to win much support from the public, suspected by many of involvement in the palace killings even though there was no proof and an official inquiry blamed the crown prince. The king's status was further damaged by his ill-fated decision to seize absolute power to fight the Maoist rebellion. He still enjoys some support from Hindu hardliners and powerful elements in the armed forces and ruling elite, but most observers said republican sentiment in the country was overwhelming. The former Maoist rebels, who fought for 10 years to remove the king and create a republic, emerged as surprise winners in constituent assembly elections last month, grabbing a third of the body's 601 seats. The first session of the new constitutional assembly was expected to start with the prime minister proposing a republic, followed by a vote. The official end of the monarchy would be announced once a simple majority in favour of abolition was achieved, Manahor Prasad Bhattarai, acting general secretary of the constituent assembly, told AFP.
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