WORLD : Nepal King Reduces His Powers
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KATMANDU, Nepal — King Birendra, whose grip on absolute power was shaken by a springtime pro-democracy uprising, today enacted a constitution reducing his powers.
The new document establishes a constitutional monarchy patterned after the British model and declares the Himalayan nation a multiparty democracy.
It abolishes the old system under which political parties were banned and the king ruled with a nonpartisan legislature that routinely approved measures favored by the monarch.
“I feel very much elated on such a historic occasion for which the people have been aspiring and have laid down their lives,” Prime Minister Krishna Prasad Bhattarai told a news conference.
The draft of a proposed constitution was completed two months ago, but enactment bogged down in a tug-of-war between the palace and Bhattarai’s fledging government over how much power the king should retain.
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