Nepal’s king reinstates lower parliament

NEPAL’S embattled king last night reinstated the lower house of parliament that was dissolved in 2002, meeting a key demand of the seven-party alliance leading weeks of pro-democracy protests that have pushed the Himalayan country to the brink of chaos.

The address by King Gyanendra was aimed at avoiding a bloody showdown between his security forces and the demonstrators who have paralysed the country in three weeks of protests.

It came on the eve of the largest planned protest yet, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to attend.

Nepal’s largest opposition party welcomed the speech, and celebratory shouts could be heard in Kathmandu just minutes afterward.

The lower house of parliament holds real elected power under Nepal’s constitution. The upper house is largely symbolic.

Gyanendra “addressed the spirit of the people’s movement” and met the demands of the main opposition seven-party alliance, said Ram Chandra Poudel, general secretary of the Nepali Congress.

In the speech Gyanendra extended his “heartfelt condolences” to those killed in weeks of unrest.

“We are confident the nation will forge ahead toward sustainable peace, progress, full-fledged democracy and national unity,” he said.

Yesterday, communist rebels attacked army posts and government buildings in northern Nepal.

In the capital, security forces fired rubber bullets at pro-democracy protesters.

Kathmandu has seen daily demonstrations in which police have clashed with protesters demanding Gyanendra relinquish the power he seized 14 months ago. The Maoist rebels and Nepal’s main political parties back the movement.

Fourteen protesters have been killed since the general strike began on April 6.

The Maoists have seized control of much of Nepal’s countryside in a 10-year communist anti-monarchist insurgency that has killed about 13,000 people.

Five rebels and one government soldier died in the fighting in the northern town of Chautara after Maoist guerrillas attacked government installations.

Four civilians were injured before security forces repelled the attackers.

A local official said the rebels also bombed the local hospital, post office and education office.

In Kathmandu police fired rubber bullets at hundreds of protesters.

Seven were reported wounded.

Protests have intensified since Friday, when Gyanendra offered to allow the alliance to nominate a prime minister and form a government. That offer was rejected by opposition leaders and the rebels because it did not include the return of parliament and creation of a special assembly to write a new constitution that could limit, or even eliminate, the monarchy.

The chaos in Nepal has stoked worries among the international community of a humanitarian crisis in what was already one of the world’s poorest countries.

Many also worry a political vacuum could give the Maoists a route to power.