Gyanendra’s 100 days of despotic rule

[struggle4progress]

KATHMANDU, May 10. — One hundred days after seizing absolute power, King Gyanendra is showing few signs he is preparing to restore democratic rule, and critics fear the Himalayan nation is sliding toward dictatorship.

The king insists his 1 February takeover was temporary, to help quell the festering communist rebellion, and that multiparty democracy would eventually be restored.

On 30 April, Gyanendra lifted a state of emergency he had imposed, but critics say he is making only token gestures toward democracy to ease international pressure and placate political parties at home.

“There are indications that the king is moving toward dictatorship,” said former Prime Minister Mr Girija Prasad Koirala. <snip>

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