The Hindu : Stir by Nepal parties

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 09, 2003

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International

Stir by Nepal parties

Kathmandu May 8. Major political parties of Nepal today began their week-long agitation against ``the regressive steps of King Gyanendra'' and for restoration of democracy in the Himalayan kingdom. The five major parties, which represented the dissolved House of Representatives, today staged rallies and jammed the traffic in the major cities of the country including the capital for 20 minutes as the symbolic beginning of their agitation.

The Nepali Congress president, Girija Prasad Koirala, the Nepal Communist Party (UML) general secretary, Madhva Kumar Nepal, the Janamorcha Nepal chairman, Amik Serchan, the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party chairman, Narayanman Bijukchhe, and the Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi Devi) vice-president, Bharat Bimal Yadav, led the protesters. The political parties say that the king crossed constitutional bounds when he took on executive duties beyond his ruling mandate. They also contend that the Cabinet, appointed by the king, is unconstitutional and therefore, devoid of any rights to hold power. But King Gyanendra today said: ``I do not possess any executive power, which rest on the Prime Minister and I am fully committed to the principles of multiparty democracy.''

— PTI

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