Monday, November 18, 2013

Is reinstatement of Monarchy subsequent to the election tomorrow possible? – part 2

Depending upon the wishes of the people of Nepal who will vote tomorrow, it may also possible that they vote for reinstatement of monarchy – at least hypothetically.

In which case but it will raise another couple of questions:

• If Nepali people indeed were to vote for reinstatement of monarchy who will become the monarch? It cannot be former king Gyanendra as there is a large group of people in Nepal and also abroad who believe that (or are suspicious) of him being involved in the palace massacre on June 1, 2001 (with a seemingly watertight alibi – called “convenient” by some – of being in Pokhara reading a book) where Birendra, Birendra’s whole family, his brother (except for Gyanendra), his sisters (except Shova), etc. were murdered in cold blood. Former crown prince Dipendra who also died in the “incident” was made the scapegoat which people find difficult to unpalatable.
• This is an age of constitutional monarchy. But Gyanendra has no temperament for that. He has already demonstrated that during his brief stint as a monarch when he “massacred” the constitution and made himself executive chief of the country unconstitutionally from June 2001 till he lasted in Narayanhiti palace. Therefore, another question that crops up in people’s collective mind is “if is he going to become a monarch again?” thereby paving path for him to become absolute king once more.
• Former crown prince Paras too is a potential candidate. But in view of his drug abuse, his violent nature and a stint in Thailand jail, the question that begs answer is “is he fit to be a king?”
• Nepal can also go for baby king. But as his father and grandfather have proved to be unpalatable for the people of Nepal, there is no telling that people will like to see the same gene in the Throne of Nepal once more.

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