Word: nepal
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After a fortnight of defying the mass pro-democracy protests that have roiled his country, Nepal's King Gyanendra on Friday finally gave in: In a somber television address to the nation, he promised to restore democracy to this picturesque Himalayan nation, and agreed to hand over executive power to a prime minister picked by the pro-democracy coalition...
...Executive power of the kingdom of Nepal, which was in our safekeeping, shall from this day be returned to the people," the King said. Gyanendra, who had suspended democracy and seized direct power in February 2005, undertook to hand the reins of government to a prime minister picked by the alliance of seven political parties that has spearheaded the campaign against...
...speech came after a tense day that saw thousands of protestors defying curfew laws to take to the streets of Nepal to demand change. Friday's protests were reported to be largely peaceful, but at least ten protestors have been killed in clashes with the police since the mass protests against the King began on April...
...That, in short, is the sad state of affairs in Kathmandu, and much of Nepal, which is suddenly experiencing something like its own intifada. After sacking three governments in three years, King Gyanendra took power 14 months ago in a coup backed by the Royal Nepalese Army. In a country facing what was then a nine-year-old Maoist rebellion that was making steady advances, many citizens actually applauded what they saw as decisive action against the rebel threat. In addition, Nepal's political parties had proved themselves singularly inept at much of anything since democracy arrived in 1990, their...
...Gyanendra concentrated on an autocratic gutting of civil society, periodically arresting hundreds of political activists, lawyers, journalists and human rights workers. Facing a collapsing economy, a future as the laggard of Asia, and three bad choices in front of them - the King, the Maoists or the corrupt political parties - Nepal erupted in early April...