Hundreds of supporters of King Gyanendra waved flags and chanted slogans in Nepal's capital yesterday to protest plans to abolish the Himalayan nation's centuries-old monarchy.
It was the first such public demonstration in support of the largely unpopular king since 2006 when he was forced to give up his authoritarian rule and restore democracy, and was stripped of his powers.
"Save the nation! We love our king!" chanted about 1,500 protesters who marched through central Katmandu, blocking traffic for hours. They gathered outside the prime minister's office and waved the green, yellow and white flag of the monarchist National Democratic Party (Nepal), which organized the rally.
PHOTO: AFP
They were protesting the decision last month by Nepal's seven main political parties -- including communist former guerrillas -- to turn the kingdom into a republic after elections expected no later than mid-April.
"We were quiet and patient for a long time, but we have been compelled to come out in the open to save our nation. How can these so-called main political parties decide for the entire nation to remove a 240-year-old monarchy from the country?" said Kamal Thapa of the National Democratic Party (Nepal).
Hundreds of riot police kept a close watch on the protesters but there was no violence.
Gyanendra, previously a constitutional monarch with mostly ceremonial powers, seized control of the country in February 2005, claiming the government had failed to quell a decade-long communist insurgency. The move was met by widespread protests against his authoritarian rule, and he was forced to step down and relinquish most of his powers in April 2006.
Last month, the political parties agreed to make Nepal a republic as soon as a Constituent Assembly -- charged with rewriting the constitution and shaping Nepal's political future -- was elected. Polls were to take place no later than Nepalese New Year in the second week of April.
DOUBLE-MURDER CASE: The officer told the dispatcher he would check the locations of the callers, but instead headed to a pizzeria, remaining there for about an hour A New Jersey officer has been charged with misconduct after prosecutors said he did not quickly respond to and properly investigate reports of a shooting that turned out to be a double murder, instead allegedly stopping at an ATM and pizzeria. Franklin Township Police Sergeant Kevin Bollaro was the on-duty officer on the evening of Aug. 1, when police received 911 calls reporting gunshots and screaming in Pittstown, about 96km from Manhattan in central New Jersey, Hunterdon County Prosecutor Renee Robeson’s office said. However, rather than responding immediately, prosecutors said GPS data and surveillance video showed Bollaro drove about 3km
Tens of thousands of people on Saturday took to the streets of Spain’s eastern city of Valencia to mark the first anniversary of floods that killed 229 people and to denounce the handling of the disaster. Demonstrators, many carrying photos of the victims, called on regional government head Carlos Mazon to resign over what they said was the slow response to one of Europe’s deadliest natural disasters in decades. “People are still really angry,” said Rosa Cerros, a 42-year-old government worker who took part with her husband and two young daughters. “Why weren’t people evacuated? Its incomprehensible,” she said. Mazon’s
‘MOTHER’ OF THAILAND: In her glamorous heyday in the 1960s, former Thai queen Sirikit mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley The year-long funeral ceremony of former Thai queen Sirikit started yesterday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her body to lie in state at Bangkok’s Grand Palace. Members of the royal family are venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures, and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Sirikit, the mother of Thai King Vajiralongkorn and widow of the nation’s longest-reigning monarch, died late on Friday at the age of 93. Black-and-white tributes to the royal matriarch are being beamed onto towering digital advertizing billboards, on
POWER ABUSE WORRY: Some people warned that the broad language of the treaty could lead to overreach by authorities and enable the repression of government critics Countries signed their first UN treaty targeting cybercrime in Hanoi yesterday, despite opposition from an unlikely band of tech companies and rights groups warning of expanded state surveillance. The new global legal framework aims to bolster international cooperation to fight digital crimes, from child pornography to transnational cyberscams and money laundering. More than 60 countries signed the declaration, which means it would go into force once ratified by those states. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the signing as an “important milestone,” and that it was “only the beginning.” “Every day, sophisticated scams destroy families, steal migrants and drain billions of dollars from our economy...
RSS