Nepal’s divisive King faces the boot

NEPAL: King Gyanendra of Nepal will be the last ruler from his centuries-old dynasty if the Himalayan nation — as expected — abolishes the world’s only Hindu monarchy after landmark elections this week.

The April 10 polls are the culmination of a peace deal between republican Maoists and mainstream secular parties that ended a decade-long insurgency aimed at toppling the monarchy and which claimed 13,000 lives.

The ex-rebels and the parties have already agreed the king will step down and that Nepal will be declared a federal democratic republic after the polls, which are to elect a body that will rewrite the constitution.Maoist leader Prachanda said at the weekend that Gyanendra, 61, can remain in the country as an “ordinary citizen” if he wishes.

But while it seems the king has all but already been booted out, staunch royalists have warned of a violent backlash.

“If the Maoists can take up arms and come to power, Hindus will also take up arms. It will be worse than the Maoists’ war and many people will be killed,” royal aide Major General Bharat Keshwer Simha said in a recent interview.

Kathmandu, Monday, AFP