Kirtipur, January 18:

Leaders of the seven-party alliance said today that the municipal election announced by the government were doomed with the government imposing prohibitory orders and curfew in the capital and other urban centres. The leaders vowed to break the prohibitory orders by taking out rallies in the capital on Friday. Addressing a joint anti-election rally organised by the alliance here, CPN-UML standing committee member KP Sharma Oli said that the “so-called civic polls have been a total failure” before they were held.

Dismissing claims by members of the civil society that the alliance was unclear on the monarchy, Oli said their movement was against the King, who had breached a contract reached with the people in 1990.

“There is no constitutional monarchy in the country. The people’s movement is for a democratic republic,” Oli said, adding that political parties were fighting for democracy so that next generation would not have to fight for it again.

Joint general secretary of the Nepali Congress, Dr Ram Sharan Mahat, said the country had headed towards a republican order due to the King’s “foolhardiness”. He said an election to a constituent assembly, which would be held after the revival of the dissolved House of Representatives, would decide the monarchy’s future. “The June 1, 2001 palace massacre shows that palace is the root cause of political instability in the country,” Mahat said, adding that the former panchas such as Kamal Thapa and the like were largely responsible for denigrating the democratic system restored by the people in 1990. He also asked the people of Kirtipur to send ballot boxes empty during the municipal polls.

Vice-president of the Janamorcha Nepal, Leelamani Pokharel, viewed that the monarchy has been “redundant” and it was a “burden” for Nepali people. “The government has asked us to come to the negotiating table. But we will not hold any talks with this government. Talks will be held on the issue as how to conduct the elections to a constituent assembly,” he said. Central leader of the NC (D) Manmohan Bhattarai said Nepal had become one of the poorest countries because of the monarchy’s autocratic rule for over 250 years.

“Now the political parties have to justify the people why they should keep monarchy that spends over 100 crore rupees from taxpayers’ money annually,” he said. Over 100 public hospitals could be built across the country out of the money to be spent by the King and his family, he said.

Members of the civil society, Shyam Shrestha and Krishna Pahadi, asked the party leaders to come up with a single-point agenda on the monarchy. They also asked the agitating parties to give up the hope of reconciliation with the monarchy.