Former King Gyanendra Bir Bikrim Shah of Nepal wants reinstatement of monarch in Nepal. In a statement quoted by BBC, the former King said, ‘This included the reinstatement of the dissolved parliament, the appointment of a prime minister from among the parties, and restoration of constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy.’ His comments come amid a political vacuum, with political parties failing to reach agreement on a new Constitution and fresh elections planned for November. The former king, who celebrated his 66th birthday yesterday, also said that he had been forced to make an agreement with Nepal’s opposition parties following anti-government protests in 2006 that he would be a constitutional monarch.
Gyanendra held the title of the King twice: first between 1950 and 1951 as a child when his grandfather Tribhuvan was forced into exile in India with the rest of his family; and from 2001 to 2008, following the Nepalese royal massacre. His second reign was marked by constitutional turmoil. His predecessor King Birendra had established a constitutional monarchy in which he delegated policy to a representative government. The growing insurgency of the Nepalese Civil War during King Gyanendra’s reign interfered with elections of representatives. After several delays in elections, King Gyanendra suspended the constitution and assumed direct authority in February 2005, assuring that it would be a temporary situation to suppress the Maoist insurgency. In the face of broad opposition, he restored the previous parliament in April 2006. His reign ended approximately two years later, when the Nepalese Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a republic and stripped the King of all titles and duties.
