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Nepal shown the king's
card
KATHMANDU - Nepal's
embattled King Gyanendra sacked the prime minister
and took over government Tuesday, a move that
gives him power for the next three years amid a
seemingly endless war with Maoist rebels.
The king announced his decision on state
radio, accusing the government of failing to
conduct parliamentary elections and being unable
to tackle the Maoist insurgency that has raged for
several years. "I have exercised my rights given
to the crown under the present constitution and I
have, therefore, dissolved the government for the
larger interests of the people, country and
protection of sovereignty," King Gyanendra said.
"A new cabinet will be formed under my
leadership. This will restore peace and effective
democracy in this country within the next three
years," he said.
State-run television
reported that a state of emergency had been
declared in the Himalayan kingdom, and reports
filtering out of Kathmandu cite the presence of
armored military vehicles mounted with
machine-guns patrolling the streets. Communication
links between Kathmandu and the rest of the world
appeared to have been cut off shortly after King
Gyanendra's announcement in the morning, however,
some links now have been restored. According to
Agence France Presse, several key leaders,
including those of the Nepal Communist
Party-United Marxist and Leninist, the main
partners in the former coalition government, are
under house arrest.
Nepal is no stranger
to political instability. This is the fourth time
the king has disposed of a prime minister in less
than three years, and Nepal has had no parliament
since 2002. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was
reappointed last June, about two years after the
king dumped him for the same reason he was sacked
Tuesday - for failing to curb the Maoist
insurgency. Deuba's ouster sparked mass
demonstrations demanding the restoration of a
democratically elected government. As part of his
reinstatement, Deuba was tasked with ensuring
parliamentary elections were held by March 2005
and conducting peace talks with the Maoist rebels.
Deuba had indeed vowed to hold the
long-delayed elections later this year, after the
Maoists, fighting to transform Nepal from a
monarchy into a communist republic, failed to
respond to his offer for peace talks when a
January 13 deadline expired. Deuba's coalition
partners were reportedly also against conducting a
vote before peace negotiations resumed with the
rebels, claiming that elections under the shadow
of violence were a useless exercise, unrealistic
in a country where the rebels control much of the
countryside. But in firing Deuba - for the second
time - and axing the government, Gyanendra has
made it very clear he disagrees with this logic.
With the government now a non-entity,
Gyanendra said security forces would be given more
power, however, he insisted human rights would be
respected. The king is the supreme commander of
the Royal Nepali Army (RNA), a force currently
with a combined strength of 138,000 armed
personnel, including those from civil and armed
police agencies. Recent US and Indian support to
these security organizations in the form of
training and equipment has emboldened the royal
regime to take on the rebels, who launched a
"people's war" in 1996.
The Maoists
initially described the abolition of the feudal
institution of the monarchy as their primary
objective; but with the passage of time they have
transformed that to be their ultimate goal. The
number of Maoist-related deaths, mainly in the
countryside, since October last year alone has
exceeded 2,000, pushing the total figure past
10,000.
The first formal talks with the
Maoists started in August 2001, about a month
after Deuba became prime minister for the first
time. But they broke down, giving the Maoists an
opportunity to reorganize. The second attempt to
bring the Maoists to the negotiating table
produced a ceasefire agreement in January 2003,
three months after Gyanendra staged a
constitutional coup and appointed a new prime
minister to head the royal government.
That
ceasefire lasted for seven months, but broke down
amid reports that soldiers of the RNA shot dead 19
detainees, suspected Maoist rebels, in the eastern
hill district of Ramechhap. On the basis of a
probe conducted on the demand of human-rights
groups, the RNA subsequently admitted that some
soldiers had gone beyond their mandate.
(Asia Times Online/ XFN-ASIA) |
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