KATHMANDU, Nepal, May 16 (UPI) -- Following pressure from the public, the Nepalese government has decided to issue a proclamation drastically curtailing the powers of the king.
The Hindu newspaper said Wednesday the news came after angry mobs set fire to vehicles and burned tires in Kathmandu, protesting the government's decision to defer the proclamation until they had come to a consensus on the issue.
"The government would table the proclamation in the parliament on Thursday and most likely, it would be passed same day," said Interior Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula in a hastily assembled press conference.
Sitaula said cabinet expansion was the main cause of the delay in issuing the proclamation. "Once the cabinet is expanded, it will endorse the proclamation and table it in the House."
Prior to the announcement, protests had erupted around the Nepalese capital, with demonstrators demanding that the government issue the proclamation and shouting slogans denouncing former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, who had allegedly said that King Gyanendra should remain supreme commander of the Nepalese army.
Deuba denied having made such a claim, and his party, Nepali Congress (Democratic), issued a statement reiterating their belief that the army should be brought under parliamentary control. It also said the party was in favor of renaming the government and the army, from "His Majesty's government" and the "Royal Nepalese Army" to the Nepalese government and the Nepalese army.
In another development, the interior minister said preparations are underway to free Maoist rebel prisoners, paving the way for talks to end Nepal's decade-old militancy. "We're in touch with the Maoists and have already initiated the process of releasing their activists," Sitaula said.
