Opinion - Editorials

Nepal King shows true colours

By arresting prominent politicians from democratic parties and bringing in other restrictions on political activity through a sudden countrywide emergency, King Gyanendra of Nepal has acted true to type. Only the naïve could have believed his promises to restore democracy. His desire to expand his powers after ascending the throne as a constitutional monarch culminated in the February 2005 coup, in which he dismissed the Sher Bahadur Deuba Government and assumed executive powers. The autocratic monarch then made a show of taking steps to restore democracy, including a decision to hold municipal elections. Few were fooled. A democratic seven-party alliance rightly questioned the legitimacy of a municipal election called by an unconstitutional ruler. Demanding that the King restore democracy first, they announced a boycott of the February 8 elections. The mass arrests and restrictions on political activities, including protest marches and demonstrations, a day before the parties were to hold a rally in Kathmandu against the elections, provide clinching evidence that there is not one democratic bone in King Gyanendra. Following an outpouring of protest, the royalist government released three of the arrested leaders, notably Girija Prasad Koirala of the Nepali Congress. If the King thought that by selectively freeing some leaders he could create a rift in the democratic alliance, a firm statement from the NC that it would not play to the monarch's tune has banished that hope.

Still courtiers are putting up an elaborate defence of the King's actions. Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey has spoken of a "road map to peace, stability and democracy" that is "concrete and realisable." The monarchy is also using the resumption of attacks by Maoist insurgents, who called off a unilateral ceasefire three months after announcing it, as an excuse for the emergency. The regime says the crackdown was necessary to prevent Maoists from infiltrating the Nepal capital during the protest rally. But then the Maoists have justified their return to violence on the ground that the King refused to respond to their ceasefire. It does appear that King Gyanendra let the truce die because he preferred the Maoists to revert to attack mode. The political parties would then reconsider aligning with the Maoists, and this situation might enable him to consolidate absolutist powers under the banner of national security with the help of the Royal Nepal Army. India, which continued to supply arms to Nepal even after the King usurped power last year (it has since stopped the supply) must not allow itself to be taken in again. Only a multi-party parliamentary democracy can ensure peace and stability in Nepal, not a dictatorial and reactionary monarch with street cunning. India cannot stress this enough.

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