By IANS
Kathmandu : Ahead of a crucial parliamentary session that will determine the fate of Nepal’s two-century-old royal family, King Gyanendra’s supporters have stepped up consultations with like-minded groups as Maoists warned the government it would be toppled if the crown was not abolished.
One of Nepal’s most senior politicians, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, who was prime minister twice, came out of virtual political retirement to pledge support to the monarchy, saying the crown was essential to maintain national unity.
Bhattarai, the only surviving founder member of Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s Nepali Congress party, quit the party last month after it decided to withdraw support to the palace and press for a republic.
The ailing Bhattarai called a surprise press conference at his residence Monday to announce that Nepal needed a king.
On Tuesday, the former prime minister met the chief of a royalist party for consultations. Rabindranath Sharma, former minister who now heads the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal, has been campaigning for the retention of monarchy since last year, braving attacks by Maoists.
Sharma, whose party includes several ministers from the royal regime, has had his public meetings broken up by Maoists, leaders paraded in public with garlands of shoes round their necks, and subjected to other humiliations.
The royalist leader was ready to take part in the November election, which was postponed by the government and the Maoists.
“If the election is free and fair, people would vote to keep monarchy,” Sharma had told IANS while registering his party to fight the Nov 22 polls.
He is also trying to unite his party with its parent organisation, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which he split after King Gyanendra took over the government with an army-backed coup in 2005.
Besides, he has been calling the nearly one dozen other tiny royalist parties to unite under one banner in a bid to save the endangered monarchy.
Though the election was called off indefinitely, a threat still lies over the king’s head with the government calling a special session of parliament Thursday upon the demand of the Maoists.
Afraid that the king would have survived the November election, the Maoists now want the house to hold a vote, using a constitutional provision that allows monarchy to be scrapped if two-third of the 327 MPs agree.
The parliament vote will also decide if Nepal should adopt a fully proportional system of voting that will increase the Maoists’ chances when the delayed constituent assembly election is finally held.
Though it seems impossible that the rebels, who have only 83 MPs and the support of three more, will be able to muster the required 218 votes, the fear of fresh violence and disruption is increasing with Maoist chief Prachanda warning Koirala his government would be toppled if the house vote went against the Maoists.
“The constitution would become a scrap of paper, the alliance between us and the parties will snap, and the interim government will fall,” Prachanda said at a meet Tuesday.
The Maoist chief also warned that a roundtable conference would find a successor to the present government if his party’s demands were not fulfilled at the special session.
On Thursday, the Maoists, in a bid to mount pressure on the parties, have called massive demonstrations countrywide, including before parliament.
Koirala, who has till now ruled out supporting the vote against monarchy in parliament, Tuesday held consultations with army chief Gen Rukmangud Katuwal about the security situation, a move regarded as significant by political analysts.
He met the general last week too and ordered him to reduce the number of royal guards deployed in the palace by half.