Nepal’s Maoists said yesterday they were pouring tens of thousands of members of their feared youth wing into the capital ahead of this week’s anticipated abolition of the monarchy.
The mobilization comes as authorities said they were boosting security in Kathmandu to enforce a ban on demonstrations — both for and against the embattled King Gyanendra.
A top Maoist official said the former rebels only intended to “celebrate” the king’s demise and would respect security restrictions — which would bar them from attempting to lay siege or storm the royal palace.
“We are going to bring in 50,000 Young Communist League members to celebrate the declaration of a republic on Wednesday [tomorrow],” said Sagar, the head of the Maoists’ youth wing, who goes by one name. “This is going to be a celebration and a display of our strength and our victory. But we will stay away from prohibited areas.”
Authorities in the capital said they have banned demonstrations and mass meetings in four places around Kathmandu and are planning to deploy an extra 5,000 security personnel.
“The government has announced special prohibitory orders from today that forbid rallies or protests in certain sensitive areas including the royal palace and the constituent assembly venue,” said Kathmandu police chief Sarbendra Khanal.
A new constitutional assembly — which the Maoists won the most seats in during elections last month — is due to formally abolish the monarchy tomorrow.
The end of the 240-year-old Shah dynasty will be a major victory for the Maoists, who launched a “people’s war” in 1996 aimed at toppling the monarchy and establishing a communist republic.
Romania’s electoral commission on Saturday excluded a second far-right hopeful, Diana Sosoaca, from May’s presidential election, amid rising tension in the run-up to the May rerun of the poll. Earlier this month, Romania’s Central Electoral Bureau barred Calin Georgescu, an independent who was polling at about 40 percent ahead of the rerun election. Georgescu, a fierce EU and NATO critic, shot to prominence in November last year when he unexpectedly topped a first round of presidential voting. However, Romania’s constitutional court annulled the election after claims of Russian interference and a “massive” social media promotion in his favor. On Saturday, an electoral commission statement
Chinese authorities increased pressure on CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd over its plan to sell its Panama ports stake by sharing a second newspaper commentary attacking the deal. The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office on Saturday reposted a commentary originally published in Ta Kung Pao, saying the planned sale of the ports by the Hong Kong company had triggered deep concerns among Chinese people and questioned whether the deal was harming China and aiding evil. “Why were so many important ports transferred to ill-intentioned US forces so easily? What kind of political calculations are hidden in the so-called commercial behavior on the
‘DOWNSIZE’: The Trump administration has initiated sweeping cuts to US government-funded media outlets in a move critics said could undermine the US’ global influence US President Donald Trump’s administration on Saturday began making deep cuts to Voice of America (VOA) and other government-run, pro-democracy programming, with the organization’s director saying all VOA employees have been put on leave. On Friday night, shortly after the US Congress passed its latest funding bill, Trump directed his administration to reduce the functions of several agencies to the minimum required by law. That included the US Agency for Global Media, which houses Voice of America, Radio Free Europe and Asia and Radio Marti, which beams Spanish-language news into Cuba. On Saturday morning, Kari Lake, a former Arizona gubernatorial and US
Indonesia’s parliament yesterday amended a law to allow members of the military to hold more government roles, despite criticisms that it would expand the armed forces’ role in civilian affairs. The revision to the armed forces law, pushed mainly by Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s coalition, was aimed at expanding the military’s role beyond defense in a country long influenced by its armed forces. The amendment has sparked fears of a return to the era of former Indonesian president Suharto, who ex-general Prabowo once served and who used military figures to crack down on dissent. “Now it’s the time for us to ask the
RSS