Nepal seeks to abolish monarchy through parliamentary vote

Kathmandu, June 07: Nepal has introduced a bill in the interim Parliament that seeks to abolish the monarchy thugh a parliamentary vote incase the king obstructs the holding of the constituent assembly polls to frame a new constitution for the Himalayan nation. The government registered the bill to amend the constitution after a cabinet decision yesterday that sought to abolish the monarchy through two-third vote in case the king obstrus the process of holding the constituent assembly elections pnned at the end of this year.

The Maoists have warned of a massive agitation if the parliament fails to end the monarchy. Maoists chief Prachanda has said the former rebels would launch a movement from both within parliament and outside to declare Nepal a republic if the parliament fails to end the monarchy in the Himalayan state.

The bill also seeksrovision for the ouster of the Prime Minister by a similar majority vote of the Parliament, review of the delineation of the electoral constituencies and to fix a new date for the crucial constituent assembly polls. The government also decided to debar persons found guilty by the high-level probe commission formed to punish those involved in violently crushing the April 2006 agitation from the Constituent Assembly polls.

Source: Zee News, June 7, 2007