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| Sunday, 23 April 2006 |
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Nepal protesters ignore king's promise KATHMANDU, April 22 (Reuters) Thousands of anti-monarchy activists burnt tyres and chanted slogans in Nepal's capital on Saturday as protests persisted despite King Gyanendra's promise to restore multi-party democracy. Authorities slapped an eight-hour curfew on Kathmandu to start at noon after protesters made it clear they were not satisfied with the king's offer to hand executive power to a seven-party alliance. "The royal proclamation is a sham," protesters shouted as they threw wood and rocks across roads to block vehicles. Gyanendra said on Friday he was restoring political power to the people and asked the seven-party alliance spearheading the pro-democracy campaign to name a new prime minister. Gyanendra sacked the government and took full powers in February 2005, vowing to crush a decade-old Maoist revolt in which more than 13,000 people have died. The seven-party alliance has been agitating since April 6 to force Gyanendra to restore multi-party democracy. In all, 12 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in police action against protesters since then. The king appeared to rule out any change of the constitution to curb his own powers. The political parties have said holding elections to a constituent assembly, which would form a new constitution, was critical. The parties were holding a meeting later on Saturday to figure out a joint response, but some leaders have already said the king had not done enough and protests would continue. Krishna Prasad Sitaula, a spokesman for the Nepali Congress, a key constituent of the alliance, said the king had not "addressed the road map of the protest movement". "Our protest campaign will continue," he said. The impoverished kingdom has been virtually at a standstill with the movement of goods and people blocked by a general strike and crippling street protests across the nation. "A constitutional assembly is the least bloody way of choosing the people's government," said Ghan Bahadur Acharya Chettri, a teacher at the site of some of the most bloody protests in recent weeks, Kathmandu's western suburb of Kalanki. "It's the way people can choose whether they want a monarchy or not." The Maoist rebels, who are loosely allied with the seven-party alliance, have insisted on a new constitution prepared by a constituent assembly as a precondition to joining the mainstream. Gyanendra, who came to the throne after the 2001 palace massacre when his elder brother, Birendra, was killed by his own son, the Crown Prince Dipendra, has been under tremendous international pressure to restore democracy. The European Union and India both welcomed the king's pledge to hand over
power. The White House urged political parties to act quickly and form a
government. |
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