Prachanda asks King to leave palace by May 27

Wed, May 14 03:10 AM

In a hurry to lead the new government and the country's transition to a republic, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists (CPN-M) have virtually served a quit notice to King Gyanendra and Prime Minister G P Koirala.

CPN-M chief Prachanda today said he had already sent a message to the King, asking him to vacate the Narayanhiti Palace - it has been the official home of the monarch for four generations - by May 27, a day before the newly elected Constituent Assembly holds its first session. He warned the King of "forced evacuation" if the palace was not vacated voluntarily.

As per plans, the first meeting of the CA is likely to formally enforce republic governance. But the Palace and the PM's Office have indicated that these issues will have to be settled constitutionally, legally and politically. "Neither the King nor the Prime Minister are obliged to respond to public statements of Maoist leaders," Kumar Regmi, president of the Constitutional Lawyers Forum, told The Indian Express.

Baburam Bhattarai, another top Maoist leader, also chose a public platform to demand that Koirala resign as PM immediately and clear the decks for Prachanda to take charge.

The CPN-M, which emerged as the single largest party in the polls with 220 members in a House of 601, has so far not furnished details of the two-third majority support it has. Nor has it responded to conditions for support set by different political parties, including Koirala's Nepali Congress.

The Congress central committee wants the Maoists to dissolve the Young Communist League and other bodies which are considered arms of a parallel administration, return confiscated private and public property and honour the independence of the judiciary and media.

Choosing not to respond to these conditions, Prachanda told reporters in eastern Nepal's Ilam district that the King would face "forced evacuation if he refuses to vacate".

At a separate meeting in Pokhara, some 200 km west of Kathmandu, Bhattarai said Koirala must quit to give a "political outlet" to the impasse. "The Nepali Congress has blocked the political outlet by sticking to the chair," he said, adding that it was "puerile" logic to insist that the Maoists demonstrate support of the two-third in the House. He said this "denigrated the mandate of the people".

Echoing Prachanda, Bhattarai said "if the King does not agree to leave the palace voluntarily, then force will be used against him... along with the King, his supporters will also bite the dust". Bhattarai's criticism of the PMindicates souring relations between the two parties and deepening of the political crisis.

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