Deposed Nepal king to move to suburbs: Minister
Nepal's deposed king is to move from his main palace in the heart of the capital into a former royal hunting lodge on the edge of Kathmandu, a minister said on Wednesday.
By Agencies |
KATHMANDU: Nepal's deposed king is to move from his main palace in the heart of the capital into a former royal hunting lodge on the edge of Kathmandu, a minister said on Wednesday.
Ousted monarch Gyanendra officially lost his crown last week, when a Maoist-dominated constitutional assembly made Nepal a republic after an overwhelming vote in favour of ending the 240-year-old monarchy.
The assembly also issued a 15-day deadline for Gyanendra to vacate the sprawling Narayanhiti palace, now slated to be turned into a national museum.
"The cabinet meeting on Wednesday decided to provide Nagarjun palace to the ex-king Gyanendra for accommodation for the time being," Nepal's peace minister, Ram Chandra Poudel, told AFP.
Nagarjun palace is one of seven royal properties that were nationalised last year. It is situated in an army-protected forest reserve around eight kilometres (five miles) north from the centre of Kathmandu.
The move is a temporary measure until the king can make other arrangements, Maoist spokesman Krishna Bahadur Mahara told the media.
ADVERTISEMENT
"He won't be able to stay there for a life-long period. He will have to find another place for himself eventually," he said. The government is currently auditing property inside the king's main palace, which contains national treasures including a crown studded with diamonds and ringed with huge emeralds.
A security review is also under way, and the government has agreed to provide the ousted king with a detail from the police -- but not from the army, an institution seen as dominated by pro-royals.
"He won't be getting any military security. We will arrange security from the police if he requests it," the Maoist spokesman said.
ADVERTISEMENT
The ex-king told the government earlier this week that he respected the decision to end his reign, and local media reported he was consulting astrologers to determine the most auspicious day to move before the June 12 deadline. Gyanendra ascended to the throne in June 2001 after a palace massacre which saw his nephew, Crown Prince Dipendra, gunned down most of the royal family after being prevented from marrying the woman he loved.
ADVERTISEMENT
Already less popular than the slain king because of the antics of his playboy son Paras, Gyanendra's decisions following his crowning sealed the fate of the world's last Hindu monarchy. In 2005 he sacked the government and took direct control of the impoverished Himalayan nation, claiming the move was needed because politicians were inept and corrupt and had failed to tackle a bloody Maoist insurgency.
The move pushed the mainstream parties and rebels into an alliance and together they organised the massive nationwide protests in Arpil 2006 that forced the king to end his much criticised, autocratic rule.
The parties and Maoists signed a peace deal in late 2006, and in April 2008 held elections to vote for a body to rewrite Nepal's constitution.
The former rebels scored a surprise win in the polls that saw them grab 220 of the 601 seats on offer, double the amount of seats as their closest rivals and pre-election favourites, the Nepali Congress.
Download
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
The Economic Times Business News App for the Latest News in Business, Sensex, Stock Market Updates & More.
Download
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
The Economic Times News App for Quarterly Results, Latest News in ITR, Business, Share Market, Live Sensex News & More.
ADVERTISEMENT
