नब युग को सुर्वात अब हुँदैछ
गण्तन्त्र को नाराले सगर छुदै छ

मुक्ती को सास फेर्ने दिन अब आए
अन्धकार मा बाच्नु पर्ने दिन अब गए

गण्तन्त्र दिबस अब खुशीयली साथ मनाउं
सबै मिली नेपाल लाई गणतन्त्र ले सजाउं 

मनमोहन अधिकारी

Wednesday May 28, 3:29 PM

Nepal set to abolish monarchy

Photo: AFP

KATHMANDU (AFP) - The Himalayan kingdom of Nepal was set for historic change Wednesday with a newly-elected assembly dominated by former Maoist rebels expected to abolish the nation’s 240-year-old monarchy.

 

Security was tight in the capital Kathmandu, with over 1,000 police ringing a conference centre where a Constitutional Assembly is expected to sack unpopular King Gyanendra and declare a republic later in the day.

Proceedings had been due to start at 11:00 am (0545 GMT), but security personnel at the site said closed-door meetings between senior politicians meant the session had been delayed until 3:00 pm (0945 GMT).

Kathmandu has been tense ahead of the event, the culmination of a peace process that brought the Maoists out of the hills and jungles of one of the world’s poorest countries in 2006 and into the political mainstream.

The city was hit by a string of small bomb attacks this week, with police pinning the blame on die-hard royalists.

Hundreds of people also defied a ban on protests and gathered at the conference centre to press for an end to Gyanendra’s turbulent seven-year reign over the landlocked Himalayan country

"We are trying to put pressure to make sure they abolish the monarchy today," said a teary-eyed Julia Chitrakar, 45, a local women’s rights activist.

"I can’t even say how I feel today. In my lifetime such an event has never happened. It is big change that we have been waiting a long time for."

The Maoists’ feared youth wing — which is accused of beating and intimidating the group’s rivals — was also planning massive celebrations, their leader said.

"We have started gathering 20,000 Young Communist League members in the Tundikhel," said YCL leader Sagar, who goes by only one name, referring to a large open space in the heart of the city.

Authorities have banned meetings in certain sensitive areas, including outside the palace — apparently to protect the king from being dragged out by force.

The Maoists have told Gyanendra and his son Crown Prince Paras — loathed for his alleged playboy lifestyle — to bow out gracefully or else face "strong punishment."

Gyanendra was crowned following the 2001 killing of his popular brother Birendra and most of the royal family by a drink-and-drug-fuelled crown prince who later killed himself.

Although seen by loyalists as the reincarnation of a Hindu god, he remained at the centre of conspiracy theories linking him to the killings.

Gyanendra still enjoys some support from Hindu hardliners and powerful elements in the armed forces and ruling elite, but most observers say republican sentiment in the country is now overwhelming.

The former Maoists, who fought for 10 years to remove the king and create a republic, emerged as surprise winners in constituent assembly elections last month, taking a third of the body’s 601 seats.

Wednesday’s session of the assembly is expected to start with Nepal’s elderly prime minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, proposing the implementation of a republic. The question will then be voted on.

 

"It will take quite some time. After the participating members have signed, we will have to count the votes," Manahor Prasad Bhattarai, acting general secretary of the constituent assembly, told AFP.

Once a simple majority in favour of abolition has been confirmed, the official end of the monarchy will be announced, Bhattarai said.

Gyanendra was still in the main Narayanhiti palace, and politicians are expected to give the monarch a deadline for leaving later Wednesday.

स्वागत छ हाम्रो आवाज ब्लग मा आज गण्त्रन्त्र कार्यन्वयन हुने दिन तथा संबिधान सभा को पहिलो बैठक हुने एतिहसिक दिन देखी यो ब्लग को सुर्वात गर्न पाउदा हामी अत्यन्तै हर्सित छौं । यस अबसर मा सम्पूर्ण पाठक हरु गणतन्त्र सुखद रहोस् भन्ने मंगलमय शुभकामना ।
र हाम्रो आवाज सदैब तपाईं हरु प्रती बफादार रही सत्य तथ्य र निस्पक्ष रुप मा प्रस्तुत हुने छ भन्ने कुरा विश्वाश दिलाउन चाहन्छौं ।
तपाईं हरु का बिचार  तथा भाबना नै हाम्रा लागि मार्गदर्सक हुनेछ ।तसर्थ आफ्ना भाबना हरु हामी लाई पठाएर सहयोग गर्नु हुनेछ भन्ने आश हामी ले राखेका छौं ।
तपाईं हामी लाई मेल गरी आफ्ना बिचार  पठाउन सक्नुहुनेछ । जसका लागि हाम्रो ठेगाना : hamroaawaz@writeme.com
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