Date:14/04/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/14/stories/2006041423570100.htm

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Nepal King calls for general election

Nepal has seen a week of protests against the king

KATHMANDU: Under sustained pressure from the mainstream political parties and Maoists to restore democracy, Nepal's King Gyanendra on Thursday night called for general elections.

"It is... our desire that with the active participation of all political parties committed to peace and democracy, a meaningful exercise in multi-party democracy be initiated through an exemplary democratic exercise like the general elections," the King said in his Nepali New Year broadcast.

Nepal has seen a week of protests against the King, who sacked the Government and seized direct control 14 months ago. The King, in a short statement broadcast on Nepal Television, reiterated his call to the political parties to "bear responsibility of — and contribute to — activating the multi-party democratic polity." — PTI