Ex-King Gyanendra not suitable to become constitutional monarch Nepali Congress chief

Kathmandu, Mar 23 (PTI) Nepali Congress president and former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba said on Sunday that former King Gyanendra Shah is not suitable to become a constitutional monarch.
    His remarks came at a time when the pro-monarchists were organising rallies in Kathmandu and other parts of the country, demanding the reinstatement of the 240-year-old monarchy, abolished in 2008.
    The pro-monarchists have become active since democracy day in February when Gyanendra said, "Time has come for us to assume responsibility to protect the country and bring about national unity."
    Speaking at an event organised by the Nepali Congress' Bagmati Province Training Department, Deuba suggested that the pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) should make the former king its chairman.
    "Even if the RPP makes Gyanendra its chairman, it will regret it, eventually," Deuba said. “If the former king wanted to engage in politics, he could have founded his party," he added.
    ‘There is no possibility of the monarchy returning to Nepal," he said, adding that Gyanendra is not suited to be a constitutional monarch.
    Meanwhile, the ruling Nepali Congress party has said that there is no need to change the present political system.
    "The present constitution that guarantees federal democratic republic system was framed through the Constituent Assembly, a directly elected body of the Nepalese people," the party's central work performance committee meeting said on Sunday.
    "Hence, the people's aspiration of continuous progress and their needs can be addressed through protection, promotion and proper implementation of the constitution," Nepali Congress spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat said, reading out the decisions of the party meeting.
    Both the Socialist Front, comprising four pro-republican parties including CPN-Maoist Centre and CPN-Unified Socialist, and pro-monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party are planning for their strength show in Kathmandu in favour and against the federal democratic republic system on March 28.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)