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Nepali King Sees Powers Removed

The Nepali Parliament`s State Affairs Committee (SAC) announced this week that it will be deleting the term "His Majesty" from the Bill on Approving Public Documents, signifying the removal of the King Gyanendra`s power of clearing public documents first. The amended act will, instead, give the SAC the power to assign the authority of who or what is responsible for approving public documents. The approved person could be anyone in the government, really: the Prime Minister, Chief Secretary or Speaker of the Parliament.

King Gyanendra`s absolute rule - which he had originally declared to be of the "temporary" sort, necessary only to secure the country against Maoist rebels - ended earlier this year in the face of unprecedented protests. Despite the amendment the King will still be the titular Head of the State, according to yhe chairman of the SAC, Hridaya Ram Thani.

Nepal has a long-standing tradition of monarchical government of one kind or another, and Thani told Asian newspapers that the credentials of foreign diplomats will be received by that person pre-appointed by the Government of Nepal, with the aid of the SAC. And while the King would remain head of state, the message of his "demotion" is clear. "This move has scrapped all powers vested in the King, making him as ordinary a citizen of the country as everyone else," Thani said.