Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, July 28:

CPN-UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said today the King’s October 4, 2002 move of sacking an elected prime minister provoked anti-monarchy feeling among the people.

Addressing a talk programme organised by the Bagmati Special Coordination Committee of the All Nepal National Free Students’ Union, Nepal said the King’s move had proved that democracy and monarchy could not go together. “Instead of reconciliation, democratic forces have reached the point of confrontation with the ‘despotic’ King,” he said, adding that the seven-party alliance’s unity would remain intact until the people’s supremacy was established.

“The King has awarded political leaders and civil society members by putting them behind bars, who had consistently stressed the need for a unity between monarchy and constitutional

forces before the February 1 takeover,” Nepal said.

He accused the King of systematically dismantling democratic institutions, developed in the last 12 years in the name of bringing democratic process back on track within three years.

“In the next three years, the King will not even leave any trace of democracy, let alone strengthening it,” he said, adding that the prime minister’s post was kept in a locker of the Narayanhiti Royal Palace. Nepal said the King himself had created such a situation that new constitution was imperative to bring the democratic process on right track. He demanded dissolution of the Royal Commission for Corruption Control, as its formation and its verdict against former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and others were unconstitutional. He also asked the Maoists to be ready for constituting a joint monitoring panel between them and the seven-party alliance to investigate incidents of human rights violations. “If they agree to form this kind of panel it will help build an environment of confidence between the rebels and the alliance,” he said.