5:51am (UK)
Nepal Remains Cut off after King Seizes Power

Nepal remained virtually cut off from the rest of the world today following King Gyanendra?s seizure of power, as authorities kept phone service and Internet connections shut down and imposed strict censorship of the media.

Local phone service came back on for a few hours late yesterday, but was switched off again within two hours. International phone lines and all cellular service has remained cut since the king dismissed the government and assumed dictatorial powers on Tuesday, citing the government?s inability to halt a Maoist insurgency or call parliamentary elections.

In his sweeping assertion of power, the king suspended several key provisions of the constitution, including freedom of the press, speech and expression, peaceful assembly, the right to privacy, and the right against preventive detention.

Since then, dozens of politicians have been detained or put under house arrest, including ousted Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Yesterday, state radio announced that private radio stations would no longer be allowed to broadcast news or opinion. All broadcasts were to remain ?purely entertainment,? the terse statement said.

Earlier, a government edict printed in the state-run newspaper Gorkhapatra, said any news outlet publishing reports critical of ?the spirit of the royal proclamation? would be punished.

Communist guerrillas, who say they are inspired by the late Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, have been trying since 1996 to overthrow the government and establish a socialist state. More than 10,500 people have died since the fighting began.

Nepal's new govt pledges crackdown on corruption, good governance

Sat Feb 5, 3:06 AM ET South Asia - AFP



KATHMANDU (AFP) - Nepal's new government has vowed to crack down on corruption and ensure good governance but said multi-party democracy will only be restored and elections held once it has defeated Maoist rebels.


AFP Photo


AFP
Slideshow: Nepal Unrest




A cabinet meeting chaired by King Gyanendra adopted a 21-point socio-economic programme focused on "good governance and economic growth", state-run radio announced.


"Property amassed through abuse of authority, smuggling, tax evasion, illegal contract and commission will be seized and nationalised," it said, announcing the decisions of the cabinet.


"Strong action against the guilty will also be taken."


Gyanendra on Tuesday fired the government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for failing to organise elections or quell the insurgency by Maoists, who want to topple the monarchy and install a communist republic.


He also named a loyalist cabinet under his "chairmanship", declared a state of emergency and pledged to restore multi-party democracy in three years.


State-run English daily "The Rising Nepal" Saturday outlined other measures the new government plans to take to ensure better governance in the world's only Hindu kingdom.


It said a Royal Commission would be constituted "within 15 days" to investigate corruption while arrangements would be made "of an effective punishment system to bring delays, favouritism, nepotism and bribery to an end".


The government would also accelerate the process of decentralisation by gradually according villages political, economic, social, administrative and semi-judicial powers, the report said.


The government would set up a land bank and make "judicious distribution of land" to squatters, the landless, peasants and freed bonded labourers.


A long-term programme would be instituted to modernise farming, implement irrigation schemes and boost the production of horticulture, cash crops and livestock.


The government also had plans to develop tourism and provide free education to a percentage of needy students.


It would launch housing schemes "to narrow the existing gap between the rich and the poor in Kathmandu and other big and small cities."


Jobs would be created for those "who have suffered from terrorism and also those who had gone astray by following the path of violence but have shunned violence or are willing to return to normal lives", the report said.


The Himalayan country, home to Mount Everest (news - web sites), has been gripped by civil war since 1996.


The conflict has killed more than 11,000 people and ravaged a population that has suffered at the hands of rebels and government troops alike.


After seizing power on Tuesday, King Gyanendra called on the Maoist rebels to engage in peace talks to end the insurgency.





Army chief of staff General Pyar Jung Thapa was quoted in the Rising Nepal on Friday as saying, however, that while the country's security forces would be told to uphold human rights, the army would pursue "a more vigorous offensive ... if the Maoists neglect the (talks') call of His Majesty."

There has been no rebel response to the king's call for talks but after he seized power, Maoist leader Prachanda denounced him as a "national betrayer" and called for a broad political front with those opposing "feudal autocracy."

The senior minister in Nepal's new cabinet, Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey, meanwhile, told AFP Friday that until the Maoist insurgency is halted, "multi-party democracy cannot come back on track."

Apart from heavy security, there was little sign Saturday of the political crisis in Kathmandu. The ancient capital's winding streets were jammed with traffic and shops and businesses were open.