October 9, 2002	Wednesday	Sha’aban 2, 1423

KATHMANDU: King Gyanendra’s sacking of the Nepali government for incompetence and his temporary assumption of executive powers is fraught with dangers for the monarchy as well as the country’s fragile, 12-year-old multiparty democracy.

In a surprise move, King Gyanendra announced on Friday that he was removing the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for incompetence in holding polls scheduled for November 13.

He then postponed the polls indefinitely, assumed total executive powers and promised to transfer power to a new government to be formed within five days.

This government would be tasked with holding free and fair elections at the earliest, the monarch announced.

The move has been roundly denounced by almost all of Nepal’s political parties. Deuba’s Nepali Congress (Democratic) termed the king’s actions “unconstitutional and undemocratic”.

Similar strong language was used by the Nepali Congress — the party which Deuba split from early this year — and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), the largest communist group in Nepal.

But, contrary to the expectations of political parties, the citizens of this Himalayan nation have not come out in support of the ousted government.

Instead, civic groups and business groups have said the King’s actions are needed right the ills bedevilling this nation.

“The King did the right thing,” said Rabi Bhakta Shrestha, president of the trade lobby Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI). “This country needs stable leadership, not the political infighting that was the norm for so long.”

There has been sporadic outpouring of support for the King on the streets of Kathmandu. Small groups of men and women have undertaken processions praising the King and denouncing the politicians.

Counter-demonstrations against the monarch have also been held, but they are few and far between.

The mood is summed up by Kailash Sharma, a vegetable vendor in the capital’s Baneshwar suburb: “We don’t know whether the King did the right or wrong thing. But we do know that it was needed to teach the politicians a lesson.”

Such utter lack of support for political parties and their leaders have emboldened the monarchists, who now see a return to the days of absolute monarchy in pre-1990 Nepal.

But analysts warn that the lack of support for the politicians is a mere reflection of frustrations with corruption, inefficiency and escalating Maoist rebel violence, not a rejection of multi-party democracy and constitutional monarchy.

Nepal reverted to parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy in 1990 after a violent people’s movement curtailed the absolute powers of the King. So far, King Gyanendra appears to have read the public mood correctly.

He has announced that he does not intend to hold on to executive powers beyond the promised five days — which ends Wednesday — and intends to hand over authority to a government comprising clean politicians recommended by political parties.

But political parties remain suspicious. They see in the King a new sort of a monarch who does not hesitate to speak his mind and even take drastic actions, as these past few days have proved.

Deuba has appealed for support from all political parties, but there has not been much support for him apart from the cursory statements they issued.

Political parties cannot even agree to sit down together to hammer out a new strategy. Attempts to convene an all-party meeting have failed on two occasions in the past two days, and a third attempt is underway.

Though things in Nepal appear calm at present, a confrontation could yet be developing between the monarch and the major political parties.

During meetings with political leaders in the past two days, King Gyanendra has indicated that he wants his representatives included in any new interim government he plans to form by Wednesday.

The major parties want the King to form an all-party government that includes representation from only the parties represented in the dissolved parliament. However, the third largest party, the rightist National Democratic Party, is even open to the idea of forming a government which includes the King’s nominees.

Only once before has Nepal had such a situation.

In December 1960, the present king’s father sacked the elected government, imprisoned all the leaders, banned political parties, and ushered in three decades of absolute rule that was only overthrown in 1990.

Many Nepalis hope that the present King does not succumb to such temptation again.

The Maoist rebels, who have been demanding a republican state since 1996, have denounced the King’s actions but are largely keeping quiet at the moment.

“Without solving the Maoist question, no government is going to find it easy to conduct polls or even run the country,” said veteran leftist leader Narayan Man Bijukchhe. “I have urged the King to give this a thought.” —Dawn/The InterPress News Service.