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| Saturday, 19 February 2005 |
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Nepal marks democracy day under emergency rule KATHMANDU, Friday (AFP) - Nepal Friday marked its annual Democracy Day under emergency rule, absolute power in the hands of the king, hundreds in detention, severe press censorship and streets flooded with security forces to prevent threatened street protests by political activists. A crippling transport blockade imposed by Maoist rebels, meanwhile, entered its seventh day, while Washington warned the Himalayan outpost faces a freeze in international military aid if King Gyanendra does not restore fundamental rights to the people within the coming weeks. Gyanendra, who sacked the government, assumed power and declared a state of emergency on February 1, remained defiant, saying in a statement Friday he had seized power to safeguard democracy which was under threat from Maoist rebels and inefficient political parties. "Everyone is aware that politics bereft of democratic norms and values had caused despair and confusion to spread among the people, resulting in growing disillusionment with democracy itself," he said. "Terrorist activities, coupled with politics far removed from the common man, gave a fillip to instability in the nation putting democracy at risk." When he seized power, the king said he was doing so to end an increasingly bloody Maoist insurgency that has claimed over 11,000 lives since 1996, and pledged to restore democracy in three years. In his statement marking Democracy Day he urged Nepalese "to remain dedicated to the promotion, preservation and prudent exercise of democracy, human civilisation's exemplary form of governance." His appointed government, meanwhile, announced the release of 150 prisoners who have completed two-thirds of their terms from prisons across the country. School students and sportspeople participated in various programmes organised to celebrate the day. Political opposition parties, saying they had nothing to celebrate, however, were preparing to launch anti-monarchy protests in Kathmandu in defiance of a ban on rallies but were keeping their plans secret fearing arrests, party sources said. Six pro-democracy and leftwing student unions were planning to join the opposition parties, which include the Nepali Congress (Koirala faction) and the Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist, the sources said. The Maoist-imposed indefinite transport blockade, meanwhile, entered its seventh day Friday with vehicles being escorted in and out of Kathmandu by the army. The blockade, called to pressure the government to restore civil liberties, has caused market prices of several commodities to soar, grocers said. US envoy to Nepal James Moriarty told reporters in Washington that after recalling their ambassadors to protest King Gyanendra's power grab, the United States, European nations and India could "seriously consider" cutting off vital military aid to the Himalayan outpost. "I can't lock us in on that but I can tell you that that will be a step that we will seriously consider," Moriarty said. He did not elaborate on the prospective military aid cut, which analysts say could considerably weaken King Gyanendra's uphill battle against the Maoist insurgency. |
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