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5,000 opposition party activists protest against king in Nepal
Kathmandu, May 29: More than 5,000 opposition party activists today held an anti-monarchy demonstration in Nepal`s capital Kathmandu, police sources said.
Kathmandu, May 29: More than 5,000 opposition party activists today held an anti-monarchy demonstration in Nepal's capital Kathmandu, police sources said.
The five main opposition parties held the protest after a two-hour meeting of former MPs from the parliament which was dissolved a year ago.
Yesterday around 10 of the ex-MPs were injured when baton-wielding police barred them from forcibly reopening the assembly.
Today's demonstration was peaceful, however, although around 200 riot police were on guard.
King Gyanendra dismissed parliament a year ago under the advice of then prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and called new elections for November 13.
But in October, Gyanendra also dismissed Deuba, calling him "incompetent" at dealing with Nepal's myriad ills including a long-running Maoist insurgency.
The king appointed as the new prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand, known as a staunch royalist, to serve until new elections are called.
All major parties have termed the king's move unconstitutional and refused to work with Chand.
Earlier this month the five parties -- the Nepali Congress (NC), the Nepal Communist Party United Marxist and Leninist (NCP-UML) the Nepal Peasants and Workers (NPWP), the Peoples Front-Nepal (PF-N) and a faction of the Nepal Goodwill Party (NGP) -- launched anti-monarchy street protests.
Bureau Report