Political parties react sharply to King's message

Kathmandu, Feb 19 (UNI) The government as well as all the major political parties, today strongly condemned King Gyanendra's statement in a message to the nation that the take over by him two years ago was a ''compulsion''.

The major parties in the government flayed the statement of the king stating that the very act of delivering an address by someone who has been given no space in the interim constitution was ''not only constitutionally unauthorised but also inappropriate.'' Earlier in the day, King Gyanendra in his message to the nation on the occasion of the 57th Democracy Day, said, ''It is clear that the prevailing situation had compelled us to take the February 1, 2005 step in accordance with the people's aspiration to reactivate the elected bodies by maintaining law and order.'' Reacting to the king's statement, Home Minister Krishna Sitaula said, ''The message had come without authorisation and attempts to sweep the February 1 move under a rug would be unfortunate,'' adding that the king's message does not represent the governments' views.

Likewise, Maoist Chairman Prachanda also criticised Gyanendra for his statement, which is seen as a 'challenge' to pro-democrats.

''I have already called leaders of the seven parties over the phone and urged them to prepare for declaration of the republic at Nepal in the wake of the King's anti-Constituent Assembly elections remarks,'' he said.

Similarly, the CPN-UML has also slammed the king's statement as ''unconstitutional, unauthorised and a cause for concern''.

The Nepali Congress also reacted sharply against the King's statement and said it came as an attempt to cover-up feudalistic ambitions, adding, such attempts would not be acceptable to the Nepali people at any rate.

The King who has been suspended from in the interim constitution, has no role in the state affairs of the nation.

UNI