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Asian editorial excerpts-3+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)BANGKOK, April 26_(Kyodo) _ Selected editorial excerpts from the Asia-Pacific press: A DEMOCRATIC TRIUMPH IN NEPAL (The Nation, Bangkok) The king has finally surrendered the power he should never have seized, now all parties must come together. "Sovereignty and state power rest with the people," declared King Gyanendra on TV on Monday. Sadly this realisation may have come a bit too late. When the king finally gave up absolute power and returned it to the people by reinstating the democratically elected parliament that he first dissolved in 2002, he did something he should have done long ago. At first, it seemed King Gyanendra thought he could do away with the political crisis by just announcing that he would ask the alliance of seven political parties to form a government of national unity, but without addressing the monarchy's future role in politics. As it turned out, the street protesters were not satisfied and they insisted that national sovereignty be unequivocally returned to the people and the parliament. In the past few months, quite a few strange things have been happening in Nepalese politics. The opposition alliance has held discussions with the Maoists who have been conducting a long-running, bloody rebellion to pressure the king to exit politics and return the country to a parliamentary system under a constitutional monarchy. Last February, the king seized absolute power and terminated the fledgling democracy in Nepal. Apparently he thought he could do better, uniting the country and fighting the war against the Maoists. He was completely wrong because he overstepped his role as constitutional monarch. Common sense shows that the monarchy still has an important role to serve in Nepal, as it has for so long in this independent kingdom. However, what King Gyanendra has done in the past four years since assuming the throne has seriously damaged the monarchy as a national institution. Nepal enjoyed a democratic political atmosphere after the end of the absolute monarchy in 1990 following a popular uprising by Nepalese people demanding democracy. The king must adapt his role in a constitutional monarchy or, as recent events have shown, risk throwing the nation into chaos. First and foremost, the Nepalese people deserve a stable environment in which they can live their lives in peace and prosperity. Meanwhile, the international community must help Nepal to recover from this crisis. Already India, which has strategic interests in seeing a democratic Nepal prosper, has played an important role brokering an end to the crisis. Other countries must also join hands and provide aid in such difficult times. (April 26) |