Himalayan News Service

Kathmandu, June 5:

Former chairman of the Raj Parishad Dr Keshar Jung Rayamajhi today defended the King’s recent move and said that the King is committed to constitutional monarchy and multiparty democracy. Neither the country nor the King can go back to 1990 or before, he said adding:

“The King has understood the international and national environment and has taken this step to bring the country out of crisis.” He said this while addressing an interaction on “Role of Monarch in Democracy” organised by Reporters’ Club Nepal. A former joint secretary, who had served at the Royal Palace, held the bureaucrats at the palace responsible for not letting the King walk on the path of democracy. “The King has expressed his commitment to constitutional monarchy time and again, but at the same time he has also given a controversial statement by saying that he wouldn’t stay like his brother, the late King Birendra,” said Sanu Bhai Dangol, a former joint secretary.

He also said that no elected prime minister could serve full term due to the ‘conspiracies’ hatched by a few palace bureaucrats. “Those officials, who couldn’t provide security during the Royal Palace massacre when late King Birendra and his whole family were killed, should be sent to prison,” Dangol told the interaction. Meanwhile, other speakers said there was no alternative to dialogue between the King and the political parties to resolve Maoists problem and restore peace. They suggested the political parties to cooperate with the King for restoring peace and holding polls. Padma Sundar Lawati of RPP said that none should doubt the King’s intention. “This is the time for unity and all should understand the importance of monarchy at this time,” added Lawati. Former chairperson of Women’s Commission, Dr Durga Pokhrel, said the monarch was never against democracy in the past and at present, too. A former Chief Secretary at the Palace, Rewati Raman Khanal, said monarchy and democracy should go together.