Kathmandu, Oct 23: Nepal braced today for more uncertainty as one key political party threatened street protests if King Gyanendra did not restore the dissolved Parliament and another said for the first time it was considering the key demand of Maoist rebels. The King on October 11 appointed a staunch monarchist, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, to head an interim government until a new election is held. Elections were scheduled for next month but these have now been postponed by Gyanendra, who has not announced a new date. The Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist and Leninist (NCP-UML), the main opposition party in the dissolved Parliament, warned that it would hold public demonstrations to put pressure on the King if he did not agree to reinstate the assembly. "If the king does not correct his Constitutional mistake, we will be forced to take to the streets in protest," said Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of the NCP-UML.
His remarks, made to a rally Monday in the Eastern city of Biratnagar, were reported today by a party spokesman.


Meanwhile the Nepali Congress, the kingdom's largest political party for the past half century, said in a statement overnight that its leaders had "discussed the prospect of a Constituent Assembly" that would redraft the Constitution.


Such an assembly is the key demand of the Maoists, who have been fighting since 1996 to topple the monarchy. The rebels say they would use an assembly to draft a new Constitution that would abolish all special privileges of the royal family.



Bureau Report