Nepal, which has been ruled by the Shah Dynasty for over 240 years, will no longer be called a ‘Kingdom’ from Wednesday once the Constituent Assembly (CA) meeting declares it a democratic republic state by biding adieu to King Gyanendra formally.
After holding a series of meetings to end the current political deadlock, the top brass leaders of three major political parties — Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists, Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) — reached the decision to implement the republican agenda by arranging a new provision of appointing a “Ceremonial President” as head of the state and Supreme Commander of Nepal army and a Prime Minister with executive power.
Following this agreement, the government has decided to announce public holidays from May 28-30, declaring it as a national celebration to herald the republican set up in the country.
Once the CA declares the country a republic state and sends its declaration to the executive body, the government will direct the King Gyanendra to evacuate the Narayanhity Royal Palace and replace the royal flag with the national flags.
Talking to journalists after the meeting at Prime Minister’s official residence in Baluwatar, Nepali Congress general secretary Bimalendra Nidhi said the CPN-Maoist, which was opposing the proposal to arrange the post of President and Prime Minister earlier, displayed flexibility on the issue of power balance in democratic system.
CPN-UML general secretary Jhalanath Khanal said the political leaders were still holding discussion regarding arrangement of the rights and responsibilities of the President.
The Maoist leaders did agree to amend the constitution by replacing the two-third majority provision for appointing and removing the Prime Minister with simple majority.
However, a senior Maoist leader claimed that no official agreement has been reached on the issue of a constitutional President. Similarly, the Maoist leaders have been claiming for both the post of President and Prime Minister being as the largest party in the CA.
Meanwhile, the political parties have not reached any understanding yet regarding the formation of new government and power sharing, including the appointment of 26-members to be appointed to the 601-member assembly.
