People's Movement against the direct rule of King Gyanendra
People's Movement II
|
---|
|
|
Date
| 4 April 2006 ? 24 April 2006
|
---|
Location
| |
---|
Caused by
|
|
---|
Goals
|
- Restoration of the parliament
- Abolition of monarchy
|
---|
Resulted in
|
|
---|
|
|
|
|
The
2006 Democracy Movement
(
Nepali
:
????????? ???????
,
romanized:
Loktantra ?ndolan
) is a name given to the political agitations against the direct rule of
King Gyanendra
of
Nepal
. The movement is also sometimes referred to as
Jana Andolan II
("People's Movement II"), implying it being a second phase of the
1990 revolution
, also known as the
Jana Andolan.
[1]
Reinstitution of Parliament
[
edit
]
In a nationally televised address, King Gyanendra reinstated the old
Nepal House of Representatives
on April 24, 2006.
[2]
[3]
The King called upon the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) to bear the responsibility of taking the nation on the path to national unity and prosperity while ensuring permanent peace and safeguarding multiparty democracy.
The reinstitution of Parliament was accepted by the SPA. It declared that
Girija Prasad Koirala
would lead the new government. The SPA stated that the new parliament will hold elections for a body that would write a new constitution.
[4]
The move was rejected by the Maoists. Maoist leader
Baburam Bhattarai
stated that merely restoring the parliament was not going to resolve the problems and that the rebels planned to continue fighting against government forces.
[5]
They still demanded the formation of a
Constituent Assembly
and abolition of the monarchy.
On April 28, however, the
Maoist insurgents
responded to demands by Girija Prasad Koirala and announced a unilateral three-month
truce
in the
Nepalese Civil War
.
[6]
[7]
In addition to this, on May 1, Bhattarai announced that if "the elections [to a Constituent Assembly] are free and fair, one has to respect the result of the elections. Then of course we will abide by the verdict of the people."
[8]
This was seen as a large step forward as it shows the first signs of Maoist acceptance of the democratic process.
On May 2, Koirala announced the new government cabinet including himself and three other ministers from the
Nepali Congress
: K.P. Sharma Oli from
CPN (UML)
, Gopal Man Shrestha from
Nepali Congress (Democratic)
and Prabhu Narayan Chaudhari from the
United Left Front
.
[9]
This was followed on May 12 by the arrest of four ministers from the ousted royalist government and an investigation into alleged
human rights violations
by the army during the General Strike.
[10]
May 18 Act
[
edit
]
The most dramatic move of the post-Revolution government came on May 18, 2006, when the Parliament unanimously voted to strip the King of many of his powers.
[11]
The bill included:
- Putting 90,000 troops in the hands of the parliament
- Imposing a tax on the royal family and its assets
- Ending the Raj Parishad, a royal advisory council
- Eliminating royal references from army and government titles
- Declaring Nepal a
secular
country, not a Hindu kingdom
- Scrapping the national anthem until a new one is composed
- Eliminating the king's position as the Supreme Commander of the Army
The act overrides the 1990 Constitution, written up following the
1990 revolution
and has been described as a Nepalese
Magna Carta
. According to Prime Minister Koirala, "This proclamation represents the feelings of all the people."
[11]
May 18 has already been named
Loktantrik Day
(Democracy Day) by some.
[12]
Although the constitution was accepted, it was always intended to be temporary
[
citation needed
]
and on May 29, 2008, a new constitution was voted on by the Nepalese Parliament, which declared that the monarchy would be deposed and a new parliamentary republic would become the Nepalese political framework.
[13]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Wikinews has various related news articles in:
Revolutions and protests in
Nepal
|
---|
Revolutions
| |
---|
Major movements
| |
---|
Minor protests
| |
---|