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REFILING: Nepalese greet king's handover of power with protests+(Japan Economic Newswire Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)KATHMANDU, April 22_(Kyodo) _ (EDS: FIXING TYPO IN LEAD GRAF) Nepalese people staged anti-king protests late Friday night after King Gyanendra said he was turning over executive power to political parties. Protesters said that the king's offer had come "as too little, too late" and was "incomplete and ambiguous." People chanting anti-king slogans marched in and outside of the capital Kathmandu, while leaders of a seven-party alliance said the agitation would not stop unless their demand to hold an election to elect a people's assembly to write a new constitution is addressed. The parties have reached an understanding with warring Maoist rebels to seek the election. The seven parties are expected to issue an official response to the king's proclamation on Saturday. "The parties cannot go against the desire of the people expressed through the street protests," said Amrit Kumar Bohara, senior leader of the Marxist-Leninist Party. "We will continue with our protests until the parties make another decision," he told Kyodo News. Bohara's party is a dominant partner of the seven-party alliance. In an address broadcast on state television and radio, the 58-year-old monarch said, "Executive power of the Kingdom of Nepal, which was in our safekeeping, shall, from this day, be returned to the people." The king said the action was taken in accordance with Nepal's Constitution of 1990 and called on the alliance of seven political parties to name a prime minister as soon as possible. "Democracy must be ensured with the activation of representative bodies through elections as soon as possible," he said. In February last year, King Gyanendra sacked a multiparty government and seized executive powers, arguing the government had failed to tackle the kingdom's raging communist insurgency. Political parties cried foul and have since been demanding the restoration of democracy. They launched countrywide protests against the royal regime early this month. India, Nepal's neighbor, and the United States, however, have welcomed the king's handover of power to the people. "We are pleased that King Gyanendra's message today made clear that sovereignty resides with the people," U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington on Friday. "We urge the parties to respond quickly by choosing a prime minister and a cabinet," McCormack said. India's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "This action by His Majesty the King of Nepal, who has reaffirmed his commitment to multiparty democracy and constitutional monarchy, should now pave the way for the restoration of political stability and economic recovery of the country." |