By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS
Kathmandu : Contrary to Nepal Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala’s assertion that the international community would not accept the ouster of King Gyanendra before the November election, a senior Maoist leader claims that India has said it would not object.
Chandra Prakash Gajurel, in charge of the Maoists’ foreign affairs, says Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, who visited Nepal last week, had told his party that India left the decision to the ruling eight parties.
“The Indian foreign secretary had a long meeting with our party chairman Prachanda,” Gajurel told IANS Wednesday, a day after the Maoists left the government and announced they would oppose the November election.
“He did not say any of our demands were unjust.”
The Maoists left the government Tuesday after Koirala refused to concede their demand that the 238-year institution of monarchy be ended through a parliamentary decree before the Nov 22 election.
Their other major demand, also refused by Koirala, is for a fully proportional electoral system instead of the mixed system chosen for the November polls.
Koirala has ruled out scrapping the monarchy through a parliamentary vote, saying since the current house is not an elected one, such a move would not be considered legitimate by the international community.
Last month, on the occasion of India’s Independence Day, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Shiv Shankar Mukherjee had said the same thing, for which he was criticised by Prachanda as being “dictatorial”.
However, Gajurel says that during the Indian foreign secretary’s two-day visit on Sept 15-16, the official told the Maoist leadership that if the eight parties in the ruling alliance agreed to axe the crown before the election, India was ready to accept the decision and help from outside to facilitate things.
“The main obstruction to declaring Nepal a republic before the election seems to come from Koirala himself,” Gajurel said.
“We have been observing a deepening of ties between him and the palace.
“In the past, Koirala heeded India’s advice. But now we have been seeing him tilting towards the palace.”
Though Koirala’s party agreed to drop its support for constitutional monarchy and campaign for a democratic republic, the prime minister, who is accused of taking major decisions without consulting the partners, had been advocating a ceremonial king and then, a baby king, meaning King Gyanendra should abdicate in favour of his grandson.
Menon’s visit was targeted for a vicious vilification campaign by royalists.