KATHMANDU: Accusing the former king of hatching a “counter-revolutionary conspiracy,” vice-chairman of the Unified CPN-Maoist Narayan Kaji Shrestha ‘Prakash’ today said the government should strip Gyanendra Shah of all the facilities it is providing.

Ex-king Gyanendra had made a controversial statement in a recent television interview, where he claimed that the end of the monarchy was “hypothetical.”

Speaking at a face-to-face programme at the Reporter’s Club Nepal, Shrestha said the former king, through the interview, has revealed that he has been hatching a conspiracy.

“The government should stop all facilities that it is giving to former king Gyanendra Shah and immediately oust him from the Nagarjuna Palace,” he said. He claimed that his statement was against the spirit of the Interim Constitution.

He further said his party will take a “people’s action” against Shah if he keeps on expressing such views. He, however, said there is no chance of the monarchy being restored.

In the interview given

to Avenues Television yesterday, Shah said the monarchy was not abolished from the country.

It may be recalled that the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on May 28, 2008, had announced the abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy and had formally declared the country a republic. Since then, Gyanendra has been living in the Nagarjuna Palace as a commoner.

Shrestha said the Nepali Congress and the UML have betrayed the late Girija Prasad Koirala by demanding the top post of the High-Level Political Mechanism.

“Girija Prasad Koirala was entrusted with the coordinator;s post of the HLPM not only because he was

the president of the Nepali Congress, but also for

the fact that he was being honoured for his contribution to the peace process,” he said.

“Following Koirala’s death, Prachanda will lead the HLPM as he is the chief of the biggest party in Parliament. We will make an agreement among the parties in this regard,” he added.

He further said that the parties have already made and agreement on March 18 to draft the new constitution within May 28. He demanded that the contentious issues be sorted out by forming a team of experts instead of going for a state restructuring commission.

PM says he is daydreaming

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal on Thursday said that the former king’s feeling that the monarchy has not ended is just a “daydream.” Nepal was commenting on former king Gyanendra’s interview to a television channel where he had said the “monarchy is still alive.” The PM spoke to reporters after a meeting of the Nepali Congress and the UML in Sindha Durbar. NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba also said there was no possibility of the monarch returning. PM said the parties had started fresh discussions on the peace and constitution-making processes, every possibility of promulgating the new constitution by May 28 and completing the integration and rehabilitation process of Maoist fighters before the promulgation of the new statute.