The World Briefly
March 14, 2024Long Live the King!
Nepal
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Sixteen years after mass protests led to the downfall of Nepal’s monarchy, Nepalis frustrated with the republic are demanding that the former king be reinstated, the Associated Press reported.
Protesters took to the streets of the capital, Kathmandu, to ask that Gyanendra Shah return as king of Nepal and that Hinduism become the state religion again.
They blame the current political system, a federal secular republic established in 2008, for the country’s economic and political woes. Amid a troubled economy, the Nepalese Republic has seen 13 governments in nearly 16 years.
These successive administrations failed to address the issue of political stability in a country battered over the past three decades by a series of protests that led to the transformation of government.
For example, demonstrations in 1990 pushed for the democratization of Nepal, giving the monarch only ceremonial status. Then, amid riots involving Maoist factions, King Gyanendra Shah in 2005 cracked down on democratic institutions to claim absolute power. The move triggered mass protests that forced him to backtrack the following year. Eventually, in 2008, Maoists in parliament enabled the transition to a republic.
Now, many Nepalis are disillusioned with the system, say analysts. They accuse politicians of corruption and power-grabs, leading to nostalgia for the monarchy. A growing number of homes and businesses now display portraits of the royal family again.
“Without a king, we have no identity as Nepalese,” said Pashupati Khadga, one of the leaders of the royalist movement. Others argued that Nepal needed a monarchy to stand on its own and face global powers such as neighboring India and China, and the US.
Meanwhile, a first wave of pro-monarchy protests in November last year was met with tear gas and a water cannon fired by the police, the Hindu reported.
Still, the royalist movement is represented in Parliament by the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which holds 5 percent of the seats.
Other parties, including those in government, rejected the possibility of the restoration of the monarchy. Nonetheless, the RPP noted that the political climate in Nepal had “never been so (ripe) for this agenda.” Representatives of the movement met with the prime minister last month.
Shah himself has not commented on the protests.
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