The impoverished Himalayan kingdom of Nepal once was an island of stability in volatile central Asia.
Now, in the wake of massive and sometimes violent street protests, King Gyanendra is clinging to his throne and making a host of overdue concessions.
The measures the king announced yesterday seemed to turn down the political temperature in Katmandu, for now at least.
With large protests being organized for today, Nepal’s monarch said he would reinstate the lower house of the bicameral parliament he dissolved in 2002. The offer brought celebration in the streets as opponents press their demands for a restoration of Nepalese democracy.
The recent violence has been a sad come- down for Nepal’s generally peaceful and multi-ethnic population, which was widely optimistic in 1991 after the country transformed itself from an absolute to a constitutional monarchy.
Conditions started fading in 1996 when a violent Maoist insurgency arose. Chaos then threatened in 2001 when King Birendra and his family were murdered, with the crime pinned on his son and heir, Dipendra, who later died from gunshot wounds that may have been self-inflicted.
Gyanendra, the late king’s brother, took the throne under a fog, then garnered outright enmity in 2002 by firing the prime minister and dissolving parliament. He declared a state of emergency in 2005.
Despite having sole control of the government, Gyanendra couldn’t quell the Maoists and has proved inept at running the country.
In building up his own powers, the king had united pro-democracy parties and Maoist insurgents into one massive movement. Over 19 days of protest, they sought full elections, restoration of parliament, rehiring the prime minister – and some want Gyanendra to abdicate. The king’s belated concessions are a humbling step for him, but in the right direction.
The international community can help the Nepalese people settle matters by letting the king know he no longer has foreign support for his heavy-handed rule.
International policy should endorse the call for general elections, perhaps under a United Nation’s umbrella.
The king’s ability to navigate away from absolute power will require a deft political ear that he has failed to exhibit since succeeding to power.
The political uncertainties in Katmandu are taking an enormous toll. Until the unrest abates, Nepal can’t revive its moribund tourism business, the only real industry it has.
