Nepal's Last Emperor?

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The resolution, which needs separate parliamentary legislation before it can become law, would make King Gyanendra, the scion of the Shah dynasty which has ruled Nepal since 1769, a mere figurehead.

The Nepal Crisis

Here's what the declaration, tabled by Prime Minister G P Koirala, and passed by a voice vote in Parliament, proposes:

• 'His Majesty's Government' to be renamed 'Nepal Government', and Nepal to become a secular State.
• All the executive rights of Nepal as a State shall rest with the Council of Ministers
• The king is no longer to be the military's commander-in-chief. The Royal Nepalese Army" to become the Nepali Army. The army chief to be appointed by the council of ministers, and not the king.
• King to lose power to summon and prorogue parliament.('The House of Representatives will now enjoy all the powers until another constitutional arrangement is made')
• Parliament would have to approve the royal succession.
• The national anthem, which hails the King, is to be changed.
• Abolition of the the privy council, or royal advisory body.
• There will be spending limits on the royal family's expenses and perks.
• The royal family will now pay tax.

But though Prime Minister G P Koirala declared that 'this proclamation represents the feelings of all the people,' and the resolution was passed overwhelmingly by the 205-member parliament, these proposed changes are likely to be legally challenged by the king on the grounds that they violate the current constitution.

More reports from Nepal | The resolution