Nepal's royalists demand restoration of monarchy dumped 17 years ago
FILE PHOTO: A Pro-monarchy supporter affiliated with Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) with a badge of former King of Nepal Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev and former Queen Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah takes part during a protest demanding the restoration of constitutional monarchy in Kathmandu, Nepal April 8, 2025. - Photo: Reuters
KATHMANDU: Thousands of supporters of Nepal's former king rallied in the capital Kathmandu on Thursday (May 29), calling for the restoration of the constitutional monarchy that was abolished 17 years ago, amid rising unhappiness with successive elected governments.
Flag-waving protesters marched into the city centre from different directions shouting: 'Our king is dearer than lives... king come back and save the country,' as riot police stood guard but did not intervene.
At a similar rally in March, two people were killed and several injured.
The 239-year-old monarchy was voted out in 2008 following weeks of bloody street protests. The last king of the Himalayan nation, 77-year-old Gyanendra, has lived with his family in a private house in Kathmandu as a commoner since being toppled.
He has not commented on Thursday's demonstration but expressed sorrow at the violence that killed two people in March.
Demonstrators are also calling for the country of 30 million people, wedged between China and India, to become a Hindu state again, a status it lost with the monarchy.
'Governments formed in the last 17 years have failed to deliver on their promises of development, creation of jobs and improvement of the living conditions of people,' said 35-year-old street vendor Rajendra Tamang.
'Thousands of young people are forced to leave the country in search of work as they see no hope here,' he said.
Millions of young Nepalis are working in the Middle East, South Korea and Malaysia, mainly at construction sites, and the money they send home is a key source of income for Nepal.
Supporters of the government staged a separate but smaller rally nearby in support of the republican system that replaced the monarchy.
The three major political parties that jointly control nearly 200 of the 275 seats in parliament say the monarchy was consigned to history and cannot be restored.
All three jointly campaigned against the monarchy and voted it out in 2008 and say their faith in the republican system was unshakeable.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which is campaigning for the monarchy, holds only 13 seats in parliament.
A two-thirds majority or 184 lawmakers is needed to change the constitution, which was adopted in 2015, turning Nepal into a federal democratic republic.
The royalists say their protests will continue until the monarchy is restored. - Reuters
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
12 minutes ago
- The Star
Air India CEO says Pakistan airspace ban adding to flying costs
FILE PHOTO: A general view of the new livery of the Air India Airbus A350 aeroplane, displayed at Wings India 2024 aviation event at Begumpet airport, Hyderabad, India, January 18, 2024. - Reuters NEW DELHI: The continuing ban for Indian airlines in using Pakistani airspace is adding flying hours for non-stop flights and will weigh down Air India Ltd.'s path to profitability, its top executive said in an interview. "The impact is significant but we have been able to sustain non-stop operations' to most destinations in North America and Europe, Air India Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson said in a Bloomberg TV interview Monday (June 2). "It'll certainly hit our bottomline.' The airspace curbs have increased flying time for west-bound flights from India by an hour or so, according to Wilson, who declined to give details on the discussions the Tata Group-owned carrier was having with stakeholders on this front. The armed conflict between India and Pakistan that erupted May 7 was the worst between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades, with both sides trading drone and missile strikes besides artillery and small arms fire along their shared border. It was triggered by a gruesome attack on civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir on April 22. While a ceasefire was announced on May 10, Pakistan has extended the airspace ban for Indian airlines until June 24. Geopolitical strife has been complicating flying routes and business models for airlines globally in the past few years as they skirt conflict zones. Tariffs are also now a closely watched development for the sector. "We want certainty. Uncertainty is difficult when you are making investment decisions,' Wilson said, adding that this was a common theme at the ongoing aviation industry event in New Delhi. So far, Air India sees no impact of tariffs on travel flows for its geography and markets. The recent showdown between the US President Donald Trump and Harvard University has added another layer of complication for international fliers especially those looking to study in American institutions. Pointing to anecdotal stories, Wilson said that there seems to be some shift in the large student population from India that usually vies to be on US campuses. "You hear people thinking of alternatives,' he said. "Obviously, it's a relatively new development, so people are still digesting it but it does seem that people are more willing to look at alternative locations than perhaps they were before.' Wilson, who steered the massive merger of Tata-owned carriers Air India and Vistara last year, declined to comment on media stories on the airline's discussions with plane makers to buy more narrowbody jets. Air India, the unprofitable carrier which the Tata conglomerate acquired from the Indian government in 2021, will start receiving new planes it had ordered toward the end of this year, according to Wilson. The deliveries are "later than we hoped, slower than we hoped,' he said. "It is constraining our ambitions a little bit in the short term but the long term opportunity for this market is massive, so we are very, very confident.' - Bloomberg
The Star
an hour ago
- The Star
South Korea presidential hopefuls make final pitch to voters ahead of election
Supporters of Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, reacts after an election campaign rally in Hanam, South Korea, June 2, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea's leading presidential hopefuls were crisscrossing the country on the final day of campaigning on Monday before converging on Seoul, vowing to revive an ailing economy and put months of turmoil over a failed martial law attempt behind them. Tuesday's election was triggered by the ouster of Yoon Suk Yeol who briefly imposed martial law in December, stunning South Koreans who had come to believe the days of using the military to intervene in the democratic process were long past. Liberal frontrunner Lee Jae-myung vowed to mend the social division that deepened in the aftermath of Yoon's martial law, but said his opponent and Yoon's People Power Party must be held accountable, branding them "insurrection sympathisers." "We are at a historic inflection point of whether we go on as a democratic republic or become a country of dictators," Lee told a campaign rally in the battleground capital. Later he said the top priority as president if elected would be to take urgent steps to address the economy, adding he would first turn his attention to the cost of living for middle- and low-income families and the struggles of small business owners. After sweeping through key swing vote regions and the stronghold of his main conservative opponent, Kim Moon-soo, Lee focused on the capital region home to the highest concentration of the country's 44.39 million voters. Kim started the final day on the southern island of Jeju before crossing the country north, calling Lee a "dangerous man" who would abuse the office of president and the parliament controlled by his Democratic Party in an unchecked manner. The conservative candidate once again apologised on Monday for Yoon's martial law and pledged to undertake political reform. The two leading candidates were scheduled to wrap up three weeks of official campaigning at midnight in Seoul, with polls set to open at 6 a.m. (2100 GMT on Monday) on Tuesday across the country. The winner, who will be certified on Wednesday, will have just a short few hours before taking office without the usual two-month transition as Yoon was removed by the Constitutional Court on April 4 for grave violation of his lawful duties. (Reporting by Jack KimEditing by Ed Davies and Saad Sayeed)
The Star
4 hours ago
- The Star
Russian attacks kill five in Zaporizhzhia, injure several in Kharkiv, regional officials say
Local resident Lyudmila Tsinkush leaves her house that was damaged in a Russian drones strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, June 1, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Peter (Reuters) -Russian shelling and air attacks killed five people outside the southeastern Ukraine city of Zaporizhzhia, while a drone attack on the northeast region of Sumy injured at least six early on Monday, including two children, regional officials said. Ivan Fedorov, writing on the Telegram messaging app, said three women died in a series of Russian shelling incidents targeting the village of Ternuvate, east of Zaporizhzhia late on Sunday. A shop and several homes were badly damaged. A man died in a nearby district in a Russian strike by a guided aerial bomb, Fedorov said. A total of nine people were injured in the Russian attacks and a private home was destroyed. Two children were among those injured in a Russian drone attack on the Sumy region, Oleh Sinehubov, the governor of the region, said on Monday on Telegram. "A 7-year-old boy is among the victims," Sinehubov said. He added that several buildings throughout the regions were damaged. The attacks come as both Russia and Ukraine are about to meet for a round of peace talks, trying to find a way to end the war that Russia launched with a full-scale invasion on its smaller neighbour more than three years ago. (Reporting by Ron Popeski, Bogdan Kochubey and Lidia Kelly; Editing by Lincoln by Ron Popeski and Lidia Kelly;Editing by Rod Nickel)
