Nepal's parliament and ministers were sworn in yesterday at a ceremony which for the first time did not include the king, but ill-health forced the prime minister to skip the event.
Parliament slashed King Gyanendra's powers after he ended 14 months of direct rule in April following weeks of pro-democracy protests by political parties and rebel Maoists.
"The prime minister could not come for the oath ceremony due to health reasons and he will take the oath later in parliament," Surya Kiran Gurung, parliament general secretary, told journalists. He did not elaborate.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, 84, returned on Tuesday from a nine-day trip to Bangkok for prostate laser treatment. He has been plagued by bad health and missed the opening session of parliament in April due to bronchitis.
The seat where the king formerly sat during parliamentary proceedings had been removed and replaced with a national flag, as the speaker administered the oath of office to 19 of 21 ministers and around 200 parliamentarians.
The assembled politicians pledged to "be totally honest in performing the duty as approved by parliament that has been restored as per the people's aspirations," in the ceremony in the house of representatives.
The swearing-in was held according to "the proclamation by the house May 18 and the house regulation passed June 10," said Subash Nemwang, house of representatives speaker.
Before the new coalition government took over and ended King Gyanendra's public political role and control of the army, the monarch swore in the premier and other lawmakers. But now oaths will be taken in parliament.
In future, "others, including army [officials], police and civil servants, will be called to take the oath of office in the days to come" in parliament and not before the king, Nemwang said.
Nepal's bar association hailed the move to sideline the king.
It is "a new and very good start," said Sambhu Thapa, the head of the bar association and a member of the committee tasked with drafting Nepal's interim constitution.
The government and Maoists rebels struck a ceasefire more than two months ago and have agreed to frame an interim constitution that will allow the guerrillas to join a new interim government to be formed.
Parliament was suspended for two-and-a-half weeks this month for members of parliament to return to their constituencies and for politicians to focus on peace efforts.
The government and rebels have held one round of peace talks and the rebel leadership is in Kathmandu consulting with political leaders.
Seven main political parties entered a loose alliance with the rebels late last year after King Gyanendra seized control early last year.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese