PDA

View Full Version : Sacked Gov't - BBC Articel


seh
1st February 2005, 12:04 PM
Hey,

Just wanted to keep everyone informed. This is a BBC article, it is a little more informative than the CNN article. I pray for stability.

Nepal king assumes power

Prime Minister Deuba was appointed last June
Nepal's King Gyanendra has announced on state television that he has sacked the government led by Sher Bahadur Deuba.
He said he was taking over direct power because the administration had failed to fulfil its mandate.

Mr Deuba had been reappointed Nepal's prime minister last June, two years after King Gyanendra sacked him for failing to contain a Maoist insurgency.

The rebels recently failed to respond to a 13 January deadline set by Mr Deuba to hold peace talks.

The Associated Press reports that soldiers have surrounded the prime minister's residence and the homes of other government leaders.

It says phone lines in the capital, Kathmandu, have been shut down.


A new cabinet will be formed under my leadership

King Gyanendra
"I have decided to dissolve the government because it has failed to make necessary arrangements to hold elections by April and protect democracy, the sovereignty of the people and life and property," the king said in his announcement.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu says the announcement has plunged Nepal into uncertainty.

New cabinet

"A new cabinet will be formed under my leadership," the king said.

"This will restore peace and effective democracy in this country within the next three years."

King Gyanendra also said the government had failed to restore peace with the Maoist rebels.

But in what our correspondent describes as a clear reference to rebel activities, he said violent crimes such as extortion will be dealt with very seriously.

He accused the country's fractious political parties of behaving selfishly and of giving no thought to the Nepali people and the welfare of the country.

He himself, he added, was committed to democracy and multi-party rule.

Failed peace

Mr Deuba had appealed to the Maoist to come back to the negotiating table but they had refused, saying they could only hold meaningful talks with the king.

The rebels want to replace the country's constitutional monarchy with a communist republic.

Some 10,000 people have been killed in the nine-year-long Maoist insurgency.

King Gyanendra assumed the throne in dramatic circumstances in 2001 after his brother, King Birendra, was killed in a palace massacre.

Unregistered
1st February 2005, 01:30 PM
All phone lines to Nepal are down. You cannot call into the country.

All internet lines are down - nepalnews.com and kantipuronline.com have not been updated since just before the king's speech.

The Thai flight to Kathmandu was tuened around a half hour before landing and returned to Bangkok with no explanation to the passengers.

Things do not look good.

Has anyone managed to get in touch with someone in Nepal?

Boulia
1st February 2005, 02:33 PM
Thanks for update - can I ask your information source. I have only sent emails to my contacts so like you say, have had no reply.

snaark
1st February 2005, 04:48 PM
Forgive me if I'm over reacting, but isn't anyone else panicing about this? If this has happened before then can someone please tell me what it means for visitors?

I know that there is no communication with Nepal right now, but has anyone actually heard anything from Nepal since this morning? What happened last time the king sacked the govt? Is the airport closure likely to be long term?

I am due to go there in March, and I paid for my ticket to KTM just this morning, then just a couple of hours later I read about the coup, and now that the airport is closed! Does anyone have any real insight?

Unregistered
1st February 2005, 05:20 PM
I am due to go there in 14 hours but it looks like I'm out of luck! Shiete!

India anyone?

Alex

snaark
1st February 2005, 05:31 PM
Geez Alex, and I thought I had all the bad luck!

I can only hope they reopen the airport soon - tourism is the mainstay of the country so they can't afford to keep this up for long. I would like to know why they chose to close the airport and cut off communications... anyone?

Good luck mate!

Morrissey
1st February 2005, 07:18 PM
I'm a week from leaving Seoul and returning to Nepal. Anyone hear anything about cross land travel? I guess it's irrelevant as violence is probably inevitable. I'm worried, I have friends in the country, buddies in Kathmandu and another in Jiri.
Looks like Tibet for me.

lenny
1st February 2005, 09:01 PM
:confused: Been ringing around and it seems Qatar Airways are still flying into Nepal, so who knows, maybe a glimmer of hope

Kentaro
2nd February 2005, 06:04 AM
The news from nepal yesterday broke my plan to that country on Losar day.
When the airport will be opened? No news make me worried.
I hope someone report the inside news when the line is covered. :(

Morrissey
3rd February 2005, 12:52 PM
:confused: Been ringing around and it seems Qatar Airways are still flying into Nepal, so who knows, maybe a glimmer of hope

I have a friend who works for Qatar Airways in Seoul and as of this morning, and as far as he knows, Qatar is still not flying into Kathmandu.

MAB
4th February 2005, 02:50 AM
I'm due to go to nepal in early march but hopefully they will have the airports open by then and they'll have sorted themselves out. They can't let it drag on too long or there will be too much unrest.

There's some good info at www.fco.gov.uk

MAB
4th February 2005, 03:06 AM
And some good info on the politics here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/4226039.stm

Unregistered
4th February 2005, 11:50 AM
Nepal cut off from the world

Nepal's phone and internet connections have been off since the king's speech on 1 Feb.

It is impossible to contact Nepal unless you fly there. Flights were cancelled on 1 Feb, but most are now operating normally.

If you are going to Nepal, you won't be able to send a message asking for a hotel room or domestic flight, but apparently once you get there things are more-or-less normal.

But there is total press and television censorship and you will have no contact with the outside world when you are in Nepal. Even BBC and CNN are blocked and the army sits in the offices of the internet service providers making sure they do not transmit any email.

There is a website with some links to nepal news and a bbs at
www.nepalbbs.com

If you have any further information, please post it here and on nepalbbs.

yakshaver
4th February 2005, 12:27 PM
Let's not get freaked so badly. How about we all go have a coffee, a cigarette, a can of beer, a glass of wine, some dope, whatever. I still predict things will soon be back to more or less the same as they were at the beginning of this week, before King Gyanendra took hold of power. There is nothing yet on the political and behavioural landscape in Nepal to change my opinion.
First, the situation in Kathmandu is calm, all shops are open, and people go to and fro unhindered. The bandth announced by the maoists had no effect, probably due to a great extent to the fact that the means of communication (internet, phones) were not opperational. Some flights do make it in and out of Kathmandu. Thai said to me here in Oz that they have not canceld anything and they received no directive from Bangkok that they may have stopped the BGK to KTD sector. I have a vested interest in receiving this information as our tickets (my son's and mine) are booked & paid.
The king cannot just ignore everyone and close Nepal to the world. There is a lot of money pledged from the likes of India, USA, GB and Japan which may well slow down of even stop if the monarch is seen to suspend human rights.
But let's forget for a moment about all the politics and not be so jumpy. The airport is open, both international and domestic. International flights are increasingnly happening, and no real disaster has occured.
Again, amazingly for a country that has seen such turmoil over the last 8 years, tourists have not been hurt or threatened.
As the Chinese comrades from over the hill are saying this seems to be "an internal problem for Nepal". Maybe from the tourist perspective, sometiems it may be good to take this attitude. At least until things get a bit clearer in a day or two.

Unregistered
4th February 2005, 06:35 PM
Hi,

I'm due to fly in to Kathmandu on 25th Feb, 3 weeks from today for trekking in Khumbu / EBC region.
I spoke with my airline, Gulf Air and they are operating as normal into Kathmandu at the moment.
Just thought I'd share this with you. As with most of the other users / observers of this message forum, I've still had no contact with my trekking guide..but let's stay calm allow events to take their natural course.

Regards

Unregistered
9th February 2005, 04:29 PM
We are due to go to Kathmandu end of March. Have now managed to email our guide but what came back seemed like propoganda for the king....how can we tell if any info coming out of Nepal is genuine or censored?