God king pays tax for first time

Full Story: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6161181.stm

 

King Gyanendra of Nepal and his son, Crown Prince Paras, have been forced to pay tax - for the first time in the history of the monarchy.

Officials at Kathmandu's international airport say the king and the prince were charged customs duties on imported goods this week.

The king, revered as a Hindu god by many followers, had his powers stripped away by the government this year.

He was forced to surrender absolute power after weeks of street protests.

Previous constitutions have exempted the king from paying tax. But in May, parliament removed the exemption.

'According to law'

"The customs office at the Tribhuvan International Airport charged a total of 130,893 rupees ($1,817 dollars) as duty and tax to release 50 torches and a hunting trophy," Lok Darshan Regmi, the head of the airport customs department said, the AFP news agency reports.

"Palace officials took away the parcel after paying the amount Wednesday. We imposed the tax according to the law," Mr Regmi said.

It is not clear why the king wanted so many torches.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says the tax payment is the latest in a series of humiliating blows for the king.

His extensive lands are to be nationalised. Parliament has also taken on the right to decide who succeeds to the throne if the monarchy survives.

King Gyanendra seized power in a royal coup in 2005, saying that the civilian government was failing to deal with the Maoist insurgency.

But the Maoists and a seven-party opposition grouping formed an alliance to end his rule.

A constituent assembly is due to be established next year that will decide on whether the monarchy should be abolished.

Nepal cabinet to be named once rebel arms sealed: PM

Nepal's Maoists will only be included in an interim government after their arms are locked in stores under U.N. supervision, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said on Monday.

Last month, the government and Maoist guerrillas signed a landmark peace deal declaring an end to a decade-old conflict in which more than 13,000 people died.

The deal envisaged the Maoists joining an interim cabinet and confining their fighters to camps, as well as locking arms in containers monitored by the United Nations.

But uncertainty over the storage of weapons and jockeying between the rebels and the political parties meant a December 1 deadline for the Maoists to join the interim government was missed.

"The interim government will be formed after the arms management. There will also be an interim parliament then," the 85-year-old Koirala said on Nepal Television.

The United Nations has said that up to 35 monitors are likely to begin work this month but that the full monitoring mission would take more time. It has not given a specific timeframe.

Koirala said elections for a special assembly to map the impoverished Himalayan nation's political future, draft a constitution and decide the fate of the monarchy would be held in June 2007.

But the Maoists said linking the interim cabinet to the completion of the U.N. monitoring mission -- especially when the global body had not set a specific timeframe -- could delay not only the formation of the new government, but also the elections.

"This is against the agreement and understanding between us and the government," Maoist leader Dev Gurung, a rebel negotiator, said.

"The delay will only help those forces that want to sabotage the planned elections for the constituent assembly by mid-June. If the election is not held on time the situation will be very serious," he added, without elaborating.

Narayan Wagle, editor of the widely read daily, Kantipur, said the wrangling was unlikely to derail the peace process, which began in May.

"The Maoists are basically pressing the government to speed up the election process," he said. "There is an anti-king wave now and the Maoists want to cash in on this. They don't want elections to be delayed."

King Gyanendra was forced to cede absolute power in April after mass protests, organized by the political parties but supported by the rebels.

Under the peace deal, the state's army will also be confined to barracks and an equal number of its arms stored.

"The exact number of our arms to be stored will be known only after the U.N. verifies the Maoist weapons," army spokesman Ananta Bahadur Thebe told reporters.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/nepal_dc

PM Koirala meets UML general secy., NC (D) president

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala held discussions with General Secretary of CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal and President of Nepali Congress (Democratic) Sher Bahadur Deuba about current political situation of the country.
According to reports, both the meetings basically concentrated on the issues of finalizing the interim constitution and meetings of top leaders of the eight political parties slated for Wednesday, among others.

The Prime Minister and UML general secretary Nepal discussed about the issues that are yet to be settled in the interim constitution.
According to radio reports, PM Koirala refused the suggestion of UML General Secy. to be the head of the state during interim period, adding there is no hurry to doing so.
The ruling seven party alliance and the Maoists are yet to find consensus in issues like head of the state in transitional phase and procedures of the elections of the constituent assembly, among others.
The talks teams of both the government and Maoists submitted the draft of the interim constitution to top leaders of the eight political parties to find consensus in some key issues.
The meeting of the top leaders of the political parties was fixed for 2 p.m. on Wednesday after the meeting between PM Koirala and UML general secretary Nepal.

Similarly, the meeting between PM Koirala and NC (D) President Deuba concentrated on the issue of promulgating the interim constitution and Maoist arms management.
Deuba said that it would be difficult to promulgate the interim constitution before arms management.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Sunday said that interim constitution cannot be promulgated before the completion of arms management.

Similarly, the meeting between PM Koirala and NC (D) President Deuba concentrated on the issue of promulgating the interim constitution and Maoist arms management.
Deuba said that it would be difficult to promulgate the interim constitution before arms management.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala on Sunday said that interim constitution cannot be promulgated before the completion of arms management.