UNCLAS KATHMANDU 001932

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR SA/INS
LONDON FOR POL - RIEDEL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV NP GON
SUBJECT: NEPAL'S KING ASSUMES EXECUTIVE POWERS, DISMISSES
CABINET

REF: A. (A) KATHMANDU 1781

B. (B) KATHMANDU 1901


1. (U) At approximately 11:00 p.m. local time on October 4,
King Gyanendra announced on state-run television and radio
that he had dismissed the government of Prime Minister Sher
Bahadur Deuba because of its "incompetence" in being unable
to hold mid-term elections, scheduled to begin November 13.
Invoking his authority under Clause 127 of the Constitution
to remove any "difficulty" that occurs in the implementation
of the Constitution, the monarch said that he would assume
executive powers until the appointment of a new cabinet in
five days. The King stipulated that members of the new
Cabinet must have "a clean image" and will be ineligible to
stand in the next election, which he has postponed
indefinitely. Gyanendra emphasized that he fully supports
multi-party democracy and will never allow the democratic
system to be compromised.


2. (SBU) Public reaction to the King's announcement has so
far been muted. Kathmandu streets were calm as of 12:00 p.m.
October 5. So far the only public demonstration has been an
orderly, pro-Palace rally of about 300-400 at midday in the
center of town. Once the Prime Minister and leaders of other
political parties asked the King to postpone elections (Ref
B), many observers expected the monarch to step into the
constitutional void in some manner. But many of the same
political leaders who asked the King to postpone elections
also expected to participate in the caretaker government
appointed by the King. The criteria for the caretaker
Cabinet laid out by the King, however, may have substantially
altered those expectations.
MALINOWSKI