King gives up power but fails to end crisis
King Gyanendra of Nepal, attempting to hold on to his throne, has announced that he is willing to give up the absolute power he seized fourteen months ago and accept a government formed by the main political parties.
The whole thing smacks of too little, too late.
In the last fortnight his kingdom has disolved into anarchy with more than 100,000 protesters taking to the streets only to be met with a response from his army that has resulted in 14 people being killed and countless more injured.
It was noticeable that in his TV address yesterday that the pale looking monarch promised many things but failed to make any mention of the dead or the injured.
He stated, "executive power ... shall, from this day, be returned to the people". Groups gathered around Kathmandu after the speech, with some marchers chanting "Hail democracy! Gyanendra leave the country!"Analysts also pointed out that under the king's gesture the army would remain loyal to him, not the politicians. "This makes the politicians very nervous," said Yuvraj Ghimire, editor of Samaya, a political weekly. "The first issue for any new parliament is to put soldiers under their control and in the current constitution they are not. After all, what is to stop the king from just seizing power again?"
"You see, under the king's announcement the Maoists are excluded. He wants to split this partnership. But you have to bring these people inside," said Gopal Chintan, who runs a network of human rights activists in areas where the rebels roam. "Otherwise they go back to the gun."
It is also clear the king acted only after diplomatic arm-twisting, principally from India and Washington.
Earlier in the day the US ambassador, James Moriarty, bluntly warned that the king's "time is running out". India's top foreign diplomat and its special envoy to Nepal, Karan Singh, flew in earlier this week to spell out how grave the situation had become. New Delhi once supported constitutional monarchy and democracy in Nepal. In recent weeks diplomats have spoken only of democracy.
Time is running out for Gyanendra. The only question that remains is how long it will take for him to acept this new political reality. And whether there will be more bloodshed before he accepts the inevitability of his fate.
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