Nepal's Maoist Minister warns king to leave palace

Kathmandu, Jan 2 (UNI) Nepalese Minister for Local Development Dev Prasad Gurung has warned the King to abdicate the throne and pave way for a peaceful progressive transformation of the state or face a forceful removal through the Constituent Assembly, state media said.

''If the king wants to live as a citizen he better leave the palace and give up the throne before the election,'' The Rising Nepal quoted him as saying. He was recently inducted into the cabinet.

''Inscription of federal democratic republic in the interim constitution had weakened the morale of the monarchists he clarified that if the monarch and his supporters tried to disrupt the election process the parliament would implement the provision of declaring republic before the election,'' he said.

Mr Gurung said the seven parties should be committed to implement the 23-point agreement in time although the task was full of challenges. ''Integration of the two armies should be done before the election and it is not a simple task,'' he added.

Parliament had passed a resolution declaring Nepal federal democratic republic and would be implemented after the election to be held later this year.

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