A Nepalese panel has chosen a new national anthem making no mention of the country's king, officials said yesterday, in a fresh sign of rising republican sentiment against the 238-year-old monarchy.
"The song was selected from a total of 1,272 different ones," the head of the National Anthem Selection Task Team, Satya Mohan Joshi, told reporters.
The lyrics were written by Pradeep Kumar Rai, a 30-year-old lawyer and part-time poet from the east of the impoverished Himalayan nation.
Joshi said the lyrics "represent national glory and people's aspirations without praising any individual and institution" -- including the increasingly isolated King Gyanendra.
"We are Nepali, the only garland with hundreds of flowers. Extended, being sovereign, from Mechi to Mahakali," the first two lines of the song were quoted as reading.
"We have submitted the song to the government. Now the government will make a final decision on the national anthem," Joshi explained. "The tune for the song will be composed later after the government approves the anthem."
Nepal's current national anthem lauds the monarchy with the lines: "May glory crown you, courageous Sovereign ... His Majesty the King, our glorious ruler, may he live for many years to come."
The government and Maoist rebels meanwhile missed a deadline yesterday for forming an interim government, but said the seven-month-old peace process was on track.
The two sides must complete the drafting of a temporary constitution before the rebels can join the government.
"Intensive discussions are being held with the Maoists to finalize the interim constitution. The Maoists will join the government only after the constitution is formulated," said Pradeep Gyawali, a government negotiator.
"The peace process is moving forward very smoothly. We are hoping to give final shape to the interim constitution as soon as possible," he added.
Under a Nov. 8 agreement, the two sides agreed a new parliament would be formed by Nov. 26, and an interim government established by yesterday.
All deadlines, however, have been missed amid what both sides conceded was an overly ambitious timetable that failed to take into account the preparatory work needed.
"We have failed to meet the deadline, but the peace process is progressing," Krishna Bahadur Mahara, a Maoist rebel negotiator, told reporters.
The interim constitution should be finished "within a week," Mahara said.
The failure by the government and the rebels to meet the deadlines was not serious, said Rabindra Khanal who teaches political science at Kathmandu's Tribhuvan University.
"Though the Maoists and seven parties have failed to meet the deadlines ... they are not going to turn back," Khanal said. "They only gave themselves a very short time to try and sort out all their differences."
Earlier this month, the government and rebels concluded a landmark deal ending the rebels' "people's war" to topple the monarchy and install a communist republic in the Himalayan nation.
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