The 2006 Democracy Movement ( ne, text=लोकतन्त्र आन्दोलन, translit=Loktantra Āndolan) is a name given to the political agitations against the direct and undemocratic rule of

King Gyanendra Gyanendra Shah ( ne, ज्ञानेन्द्र शाह, born 7 July 1947) is a former monarch who was the last King of Nepal, reigning from 2001 to 2008. As a child, he was briefly king from 1950 to 1951, when his grandfather, Tribhu ...

of Nepal. The movement is also sometimes referred to as ''Jana Andolan II'' ("People's Movement II"), implying it being a second phase of the 1990

Jana Andolan The 1990 People's Movement ( ne, २०४६ जनआन्दोलन, 2046 Jana Andolan) was a multiparty movement in Nepal that brought an end to absolute monarchy and the beginning of constitutional monarchy. It also eliminated the Panch ...

Reinstitution of Parliament

In a nationally televised address, King Gyanendra reinstated the old Nepal House of Representatives on April 24, 2006. The King called upon the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) to bear the responsibility of taking the nation on the path to national unity and prosperity while ensuring permanent peace and safeguarding multiparty democracy. The reinstitution of Parliament was accepted by the SPA. It declared that

Girija Prasad Koirala Nepal Ratna Girija Prasad Koirala ( ne, गिरिजाप्रसाद कोइराला ; 4 July 1924 – 20 March 2010), affectionately known as Girija Babu, was a Nepalese politician. He headed the Nepali Congress and served as the ...

would lead the new government. The SPA stated that the new parliament will hold elections for a body that would write a new constitution. The move was rejected by the Maoists. Baburam Bhattarai stated that merely restoring the parliament was not going to resolve the problems and that the rebels planned to continue fighting against government forces. They still demanded the formation of a

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

and abolition of the monarchy. On April 28, however, the Maoist insurgents responded to demands by Girija Prasad Koirala and announced a unilateral three-month truce in the

Nepalese Civil War The Nepalese Civil War was a protracted armed conflict that took place in the former Kingdom of Nepal from 1996 to 2006. It saw fighting between the Nepalese royal government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) throughout the country. ...

. In addition to this, on May 1, Bhattarai announced that if "the elections o a Constituent Assemblyare free and fair, one has to respect the result of the elections. Then of course we will abide by the verdict of the people." This was seen as a large step forward as it shows the first signs of Maoist acceptance of the democratic process. On May 2, Koirala announced the new government cabinet including himself and three other ministers from the Nepali Congress: K.P. Sharma Oli from

CPN (UML) CPN may refer to: * Calpine Corporation, New York Stock Exchange symbol CPN * Canadian Perinatal Network * ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' * Carpinteria (Amtrak station), California, Amtrak station code CPN * Caspian Airlines (Iran), ICAO airline ...

, Gopal Man Shrestha from

Nepali Congress (Democratic) Nepali Congress (Democratic) ( was a political party in Nepal, which was formed due to a vertical split of the original Nepali Congress. The Nepali Congress (Democratic) was led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, while the original was led by ...

and Prabhu Narayan Chaudhari from the United Left Front. This was followed on May 12 by the arrest of four ministers from the ousted royalist government and an investigation into alleged human rights violations by the army during the General Strike.

May 18 Act

The most dramatic move of the post-Loktantra Andolan government came on May 18, 2006, when the Parliament unanimously voted to strip the King of many of his powers. The bill included: * Putting 90,000 troops in the hands of the parliament * Imposing a tax on the royal family and its assets * Ending the Raj Parishad, a royal advisory council * Eliminating royal references from army and government titles * Declaring Nepal a secular country, not a Hindu kingdom * Scrapping the national anthem until a new one is composed * Eliminating the king's position as the Supreme Commander of the Army The act overrides the 1990 Constitution, written up following the

and has been described as a Nepalese Magna Carta. According to Prime Minister Koirala, "This proclamation represents the feelings of all the people." May 18 has already been named ''Loktantrik Day'' (Democracy Day) by some. Although the constitution was accepted, it was always intended to be temporary and on May 29, 2008, a new constitution was voted on by the Nepalese Parliament, which declared that the monarchy would be deposed and a new parliamentary republic would become the Nepalese political framework.Nepal votes to abolish monarchy
BBC News, 28 May 2008

References

External links

Nepal democracy crisis legal news and resources
JURIST
CNN – April 9Navhind TimesScores of journalists detained
– IFEX
Explaining Maoist Strategy: It's All In The Script by Dr Thomas A. Marks
{{DEFAULTSORT:2006 Nepalese revolution History of Nepal (1951–2008) Politics of Nepal Democracy movement in Nepal Democracy movement in Nepal Protests in Nepal Revolutionary movements Nepalese democracy movements Nonviolent revolutions Nepalese Civil War

Reinstitution of Parliament

May 18 Act

See also

References

External links