From Shirish B Pradhan
http://news.in.msn.com/international/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5744925
Kathmandu, Jan 11 (PTI) Nepal's ex-King Gyanendra today embarked on a two-week long personal visit to India during which he is expected to meet political leaders.
Gyanendra is accompanied by his wife Komal and daughter- in-law Himani Shah. He will be visiting Jaipur for attending a wedding function in the family.
However, he will have a stopover in Delhi during the two week visit where the ex-monarch is likely to meet some political leaders, according to sources close to the ex-King.
Meanwhile, Nepalese people today observed the 290th birth anniversary of late King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who is known for unifying the modern day Nepal by joining smaller states.
Hundreds of people gathered in front of the Singhdurbar Secretariat, the main government administrative building, carrying national flags and placards and garlanded the life size statue of Prithvi Narayan situated near the secretariat.
Probably this is for the first time, the royalists were joined by some opposition party leaders, journalists and civil society activists to mark the birth anniversary of late King coinciding with National Unity Day.
Since the abolition of monarchy in 2008 the govern does not observe the Unity day at official level.
CPN-UML leader and former Education Minister Modnath Prashrit, CPN-UML leader and former Home Minister Bhim Rawal also participated in the rally to mark the occasion.
Others present were Kamal Thapa, president of pro-King Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal and some pro-Hindu activists.
"There is threat to national sovereignty not from the outside forces but from the elements operating from within the country," says the statement issued by the National Unity Day programme organizing committee indirectly pointing figure towards the Maoist party.
The visit of ex-King comes at a time when the two major political parties, the Unified CPN-Maoist and the Nepali Congress are at loggerhead over the issue of system of governance as the process of drafting the new constitution is underway in the Himalayan Republic.
The Maoists want to install a political system where President with full executive powers will be directly elected from the people while in sharp contrast with that the Nepali Congress wants to include the provision in the constitution which favours Parliamentary System where executive powers are vested with the Prime Minister and president assumes the role of a nominal head of the state.
.png)
