By IANS
Kathmandu : Nepal’s King Gyanendra, who ascended the throne twice against all odds, Friday paid a heavy price for his attempt to revert to absolute reign as the parliament abolished kingdom’s two-century-old monarchy to make it a federal democratic republic.
Without waiting for the election to seal the fate of King Gyanendra, legislators finally took the matter in their own hands and voted overwhelmingly to oust the king, whose 14-month absolute regime stoked immense public anger.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who had been single-handedly opposing the Maoist demand to abolish monarchy immediately, finally capitulated, following months’ wrangling and mounting pressure from the international community.
The octogenarian leader Friday made a rare appearance in parliament to take part in the historic vote in which 270 of the 321 parliamentarians gave their nod to removing the king.
Only three MPs including Pashupati Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana, chief of the formerly royalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party and a kinsman of the king, opposed the proposal tabled by Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Narendra Bikram Nembang Monday.
After the twice-postponed constituent assembly election is held, the implementation of the proclamation starts. The king now has till mid-April unless another drastic change occurs.
Already stripped of legal impunity, being made to pay tax and stripped of his ancestral property, King Gyanendra would also have to relinquish his throne, crown and palace.
The vote marks an immense victory for the Maoists who fought a 10-year war from 1996 to overthrow monarchy and establish a communist republic.
Through “people’s war” did not accomplish that, the king’s move in 2005 to seize absolute power with the help of the army and marginalize the opposition parties forged a pact between the outlaws and the parties.
Their united opposition last year forced the king to surrender power and the new government signed a peace pact, ending the insurgency that killed over 13,000 people.
With the proclamation of republic, the Maoists are now likely to return to the government they left in September.