Nepal’s ex-king voices concern after protests as supporters rally
Gyanendra Shah was deposed in 2008 in a democratic uprising after he suspended the constitution and dissolved parliament in 2005
Nepal’s former king Gyanendra Shah has expressed concern over the state of the country four months after a youth-led uprising toppled the previous government.
At least 76 people were killed during the demonstrations last September, which saw four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli ousted and replaced by former chief justice Sushila Karki in an interim capacity until elections scheduled later this year.
Shah, who was deposed in 2008 at the end of a decade-long civil war, has largely refrained from commenting on Nepal’s fractious politics.
But in a 12-minute video address on Saturday for National Unity Day, he warned Nepal “itself might not survive any more”.
“Nearly two decades since we left the palace, the crisis the country continues to face has us worried,” Shah said, with a picture of the late king Prithvi Narayan Shah, the first to rule a united Nepal, visible in the background.
“Yesterday, there was a concern that there was no development in the country, but today there is a bigger worry that the country itself might not survive any more.”
He criticised leaders who had failed to heed the needs of young people and this had “bred dissatisfaction among the youths.”