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Deposed Nepal king sees future royal role: report
Agence France Presse - December 5, 2008
Kathmandu – Nepal's deposed king Gyanendra still believes there could be a role for the monarchy in the Himalayan country, he said in an interview carried by a weekly newspaper.
Nepal is now a republic run by Maoists who won landmark polls in April and legislated to end to the world's last Hindu monarchy.
"It would not be unnatural if citizens see a place for the royal institution in (preserving) national unity and strengthening democracy," the former king said in his first comments since his dynasty was ended six months ago.
The king gave no details about what kind of role for the monarchy he envisioned in the comments published in the Nepalese language newspaper "Ghatana Bichar" or "Events and Ideas".
Dev Prakash Tripathi, editor of the weekly, said Friday he met Gyanendra in late November and published the interview in this week's edition. "During the talk with the former king, I found he still cherishes a little hope people might in the coming years advocate monarchy," Tripathi told AFP.
Following abolition of his 240-year-old dynasty, Gyanendra, seen by supporters as an incarnation of a Hindu god, has kept a low profile.
After leaving the sprawling pink palace in the heart of Kathmandu, he moved to a former hunting lodge on the capital's outskirts and has made only a handful of appearances at religious festivals and family celebrations.
He was vaulted to the throne in 2001 by a palace massacre in which his nephew, the then crown prince, gunned down most of the royal family – including the king and queen – before shooting himself.
Gyanendra became deeply unpopular when he seized direct control of the nation in early 2005, claiming mainstream parties had failed to tackle a Maoist insurgency and were corrupt. His takeover pushed political parties and rebel Maoists into an alliance that eventually led to the end of his reign.
"At the time (of the takeover) everyone I spoke to said the country was ruined. Someone had to do something so I took the initiative to bring the country back onto the right track," the former king said. "But people didn't like it and I gave up."
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