Nepal abolishes monarchy, declares republic
KATHMANDU: A constitutional assembly in Nepal on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favour of abolishing the Himalayan nation’s 240-year-old Hindu monarchy and declaring Nepal a republic.
In an historic vote that caps a peace deal between Maoist rebels and mainstream parties, politicians ordered unpopular King Gyanendra to step down and for his palace to be turned into a museum. “The sacrifice of thousands of Nepalese has been honoured today by us getting rid of the monarchy,” Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told AFP.
A senior member of the 601-member Constituent Assembly, Kul Bahadur Gurung, said 560 members voted in favour and just four opposed. The remaining lawmakers were absent.
Nepal’s fiercely-republican Maoists, who fought for 10 years to oust the Gyanendra’s Hindu dynasty and create a secular republic, won the largest single bloc of seats in the assembly in the general elections last month.
Officials said Gyanendra would have 15 days to vacate his Kathmandu palace.
The republican declaration states that Nepal will become “an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular and an inclusive democratic republic.”
“Nepal has turned into a democratic republic, all the existing laws and administrative functions that contradicts this idea will be invalidated from today,” it reads.
“All the privileges enjoyed by the king and royal family will automatically come to an end,” it says, noting that May 29 will henceforth be celebrated as “Republic Day.”
The Maoists have told Gyanendra and his son Crown Prince Paras to bow out gracefully and adapt to life as a “common citizen” or face “strong punishment.”
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default...9-5-2008_pg1_4