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As Nepalis Celebrate, Anger Remains
Parties Name New Prime Minister; Maoists Promise More Protests

By John Lancaster
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, April 26, 2006; A18

KATHMANDU, Nepal, April 25 -- Waving flags and cheering wildly, jubilant Nepalis thronged the streets of the capital Tuesday to celebrate their victory over King Gyanendra, a day after the embattled monarch gave way to relentless street protests and agreed to reinstate parliament.

But Gyanendra's concession was rejected by Maoist rebels, who said they would continue a blockade of the capital, and the triumphal mood on the streets was tinged with calls for vengeance following a brutal security crackdown in which 15 people were killed and hundreds more injured.

At a downtown intersection less than a half-mile from the royal palace, young men ripped down signs bearing quotations from the monarch, in view of stone-faced riot police, who did not stop them. Some members of the crowd confronted the police with photographs of people killed in the unrest, taunting them and daring them to shoot.

The victory celebration followed Gyanendra's surprise announcement late Monday night that he would give in to the demands of a seven-party opposition alliance to reconvene parliament on Friday, nearly four years after its dissolution. Gyanendra's concession opens the door to the writing of a new constitution that could eliminate the Hindu dynasty that has governed the Himalayan kingdom since 1769.

In recognition of their success, leaders of the alliance on Tuesday called off their protest campaign and named as prime minister G.P. Koirala, 84, who has held the post several times before and is the chief of the Nepali Congress, the country's largest political party. Party leaders also vowed to begin planning immediately for elections to a "constituent assembly" that would then write the new constitution.

"We have forced the autocratic powers to eat dust," Madhav Kumar Nepal, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), told thousands of cheering supporters at an intersection on the outskirts of the capital where three protesters were shot dead by security forces last week.

The king's retreat does not spell an immediate end to the turmoil in Nepal, where the Maoists have been waging war against the monarchy for a decade at a cost of more than 12,000 lives. In a statement Tuesday morning, the Maoist leader, who goes by the name Prachanda, said the opposition alliance had committed "another historic mistake" and called for a continuation of protests.

"The proclamation is a sham and a conspiracy against the Nepali people," the statement said. "Our party firmly rejects this."

Some analysts said the Maoists may ultimately have no choice but to accept a political settlement, given the enthusiastic public reception to the outcome of the protest campaign. "It gives them an opportunity to become a respectable partner in the democratic process, or they can bungle their chance," said Yubraj Ghimire, editor of the newsmagazine Samay.

The king, he added, has made a historic concession by acknowledging, in effect, that "there is no space for a Hindu and obscurantist monarchy" in the modern world. "Only a monarchy that is guided by law can exist."

Even that outcome was in doubt Tuesday, given the depth of public anger toward Gyanendra and his security forces.

"There is no chance the monarchy will survive," said Parashar Rijal, 47, a schoolteacher marching near the royal palace with thousands of other people, many with their foreheads smeared with vermilion in a Hindu symbol of victory. "This is a victory of the people. Democracy has been restored. That's what we've wanted for so long."

The protests were rooted in Gyanendra's decision almost 15 months ago to assume powers of direct rule -- effectively suspending the constitutional monarchy that has governed Nepal since 1990 -- in a move that he said was necessary to defeat the Maoists. Fed up with the country's elected leaders, many Nepalis initially welcomed the power grab. But Gyanendra's failure to improve security, or to chart a clear path back to democracy, turned the public against him.

So the mood was receptive when the parties this month launched their protest campaign, which included a nationwide shutdown of businesses and transportation networks. As street protests grew in size and intensity, security forces responded with mass arrests, curfews, baton charges, tear gas, rubber bullets and occasionally live ammunition -- tactics that only hardened public opposition to the king.

A man shot by security forces on Saturday died of his injuries Tuesday, becoming the 15th fatality in the unrest, according to the Associated Press.

In his somber five-minute address Monday night, the 58-year-old king did not explicitly endorse the parties' demand for a constituent assembly whose elected members could decide to write the monarchy out of existence. But his stated willingness to proceed "according to the road map of the agitating seven-party alliance" was taken as tacit acceptance.

Although the alliance orchestrated the campaign, and has not explicitly called for Gyanendra's ouster, much of the energy for the street protests came from unaffiliated Nepalis in their teens and twenties who said they were determined to continue their agitation until the monarchy collapsed.

On Tuesday, that goal remained paramount in the minds of many protesters-turned-celebrants as they marched through the streets shouting slogans such as "Hang the king!" and "Thief king, leave the country!" Some carried posters demanding criminal prosecution of Gyanendra's royalist allies in the government and security forces.

"If the king had made this announcement six months ago, the people would have left room for a ceremonial monarchy, but now a lot of people have died," said Narayan Khanal, 24, a university student in bluejeans and a Calvin Klein T-shirt. "When the constituent assembly takes place, the people will dismiss the king. That's absolutely certain."

© 2006 The Washington Post Company