Nepal vows to guard democracy on anniversary

Kathmandu, Apr 24: Nepalis will not allow their freedom to behijacked again, the prime minister said today as people beat cymbalsand danced to celebrate the first anniversary of the end of KingGyanendra's absolute rule.

At least 22 people were killed and thousands wounded duringpro-democracy protests last year before the king gave in, restoredparliament and handed power back to political parties that led thecampaign.

''It is a historic day achieved through the courage, resolve andsacrifice of the people,'' Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said atthe government-sponsored celebrations joined by thousands of Nepalisand school children.

''This is a day when the people of Nepal made the struggle for theprotection of their rights a success,'' the veteran politician said.

''No one can hijack it again,'' Koirala said as an army helicoptershowered flower petals on the venue in the heart of the hill-ringedcapital.

King Gyanendra sacked the government and assumed absolute power inFebruary 2005 vowing to crush an anti-monarchy insurgency, only to behumbled by mass protests last year.

The new government and the Maoists, who supported the protests,signed a peace deal that ended a civil war which killed more than13,000 people.

As the celebrations began in the city, King Gyanendra, who hasbeen stripped of almost all powers, visited the shrine of a Hindu powergoddess outside Kathmandu for annual family prayers, a local private TVchannel said.

Analysts say that a year after the end of the king's rule, thereis still confusion about the date of constituent assembly elections,the cornerstone of the peace deal with the Maoists.

That assembly is meant to draw up a new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy, which the Maoists want abolished.

The government also faces new challenges such as a violentcampaign for autonomy in the southern plains that has overshadowed thepeace pact.

Today, human rights activists also plan a rally to press for arepublic and constituent assembly elections, which was the war-cry oftens of thousands of protesters last year.

Reuters

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