Nepal crown prince tried to stop king's surrender: report
By Indo Asian News Service
Kathmandu, April 26 (IANS) Nepal's Crown Prince Paras tried till the last moment to prevent King Gyanendra from relinquishing power, resulting in a tussle between father and son, a Nepali weekly has said.
Though anti-king protests erupted nationwide from April 6 and the international community began to mount pressure on the king to hold an olive branch, Paras and other royal relatives leaned on the king to hang on to power and incited security forces to shoot at demonstrators, the Jana Astha weekly said Wednesday.
The king staved off the pressure to step down till April 14 when, in his address to the nation, he asked the opposition parties to name a prime minister. However, the parties rejected the call and vowed to step up their protests.
When thousands of protesters continued their rallies countrywide, defying curfew and shoot-at-sight orders to demand the abolition of monarchy, the king became jittery, especially after indications the crowds could storm the security cordon around the palace, the weekly said.
To defuse the volatile situation, he decided Monday to issue a royal proclamation and reinstate parliament, as demanded by the opposition political parties.
Accordingly, the palace secretariat drew up a draft that was shown to the opposition parties for their approval. However, though the parties approved it in the morning, till late at night the king had not issued the proclamation.
It was only after 10.30 p.m. that the state-run Nepal television channel finally said the royal proclamation would come at 11.30 p.m.
The reason for the delay, the weekly said, was Crown Prince Paras. According to the report, the heir to Nepal's throne, known for his quick temper, strode into the palace at 6 p.m., vehemently opposing his father's decision. It took the king till nearly midnight to pacify his enraged son and send him back to his residence, it added.
During the 19-day protests, helicopters flew over the demonstrators, taking photographs. Some of the injured protesters said the choppers had fired teargas shells at the crowds and ordered security forces to baton-charge them.
The weekly said one of the helicopters belonged to King Gyanendra. Royal advisers and relatives including a nephew of the king had been among the passengers.
At a time when Nepal is on the brink of an economic crisis, huge sums of money were spent on the helicopter as part of the palace's campaign to suppress the protests, it added.
Copyright Indo-Asian News Service
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