Nepal PM suspended by own party after early elections called

Nepal PM suspended by own party after early elections called

KATHMANDU - Nepal's caretaker prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba was on Thursday suspended by his own party as angry members protested his decision to dissolve parliament.

The disciplinary committee of the Nepali Congress decided Deuba's membership would be suspended until he justifies the holding of elections two years ahead of schedule, said a member of the executive committee, C.P. Bastola. "A suspension letter was delivered to Deuba on Thursday afternoon giving him three days notice to explain why parliament was dissolved without the party's consent," Bastola told AFP.

"He has not been expelled," he said. Meanwhile Nepali Congress president Girija Prasad Koirala, Deuba's predecessor as prime minister and his arch-rival, has asked all cabinet ministers to resign within three days, state television said.

Three ministers resigned earlier Thursday from the cabinet, saying Deuba had not consulted with party colleagues before recommending the move to King Gyanendra. Sources in the party said other action may be taken against Deuba after the return to Nepal later this week of the Nepali Congress's respected former leader, K.P. Bhattarai, who is undergoing medical treatment in London.

The suspension is not expected to affect Deuba's position as caretaker head of government. Gyanendra late Wednesday disbanded parliament and called elections two years ahead of schedule as parliament looked set to reject an extension to emergency rule.

The emergency had been imposed in late November to counter Maoist rebels after they broke a four-month ceasefire initiated by Deuba. - AFP

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Prime Minister in Nepal Suspended

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
Associated Press Writer

May 23, 2002, 10:21 AM EDT




KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) -- Nepal's ruling party suspended the prime minister as a member Thursday to punish him for dissolving the parliament and calling fresh elections.

In another protest against the decision of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and King Gyanendra, three senior Cabinet ministers resigned Thursday.

The political infighting was part of a growing political crisis in Nepal, where the government is in the midst of a major battle against Maoist rebels.

Deuba remains prime minister until the Nov. 13 elections, but will not be able to campaign as a member of the Nepali Congress party. The party has won most of Nepal's elections since democracy was restored under a constitutional monarchy in 1990.

The party, whose president is Deuba's main rival, warned all the Cabinet ministers to stop supporting Deuba and resign within three days.

Deuba had asked King Gyanendra suddenly to call elections after a powerful faction of the party declared its opposition to a plan to extend the nation's 6-month-old emergency rule until late November.

The decision, which requires a two-thirds vote in the national House of Representatives, was announced by the government without consulting the whole party.

The state of emergency suspends press freedom and allows police and soldiers to detain without charge anyone suspected of sympathizing with the rebels' desire to install a communist government.

"Instead of complying with the party's order to take back the proposal to extend emergency rule, he disobeyed the party and dissolved the parliament," party spokesman Arjun Narsingh said Thursday.

"We were not taken into confidence while making the decision to dissolve parliament, which at the moment is inappropriate," said Finance Minister Ram Sharan Mahat. He resigned from the government on Thursday, along with Education Minister Amod Prasad Upadhaya and Women and Social Welfare Minister Rajendra Kharel.

Deuba leads one faction in the party while the other is controlled by his predecessor, Girija Prasad Koirala.

"It is unfortunate that the feuds in the ruling Nepali Congress party have plunged the country into an uncertain and confusing situation," said Khadga Prasad Oli, deputy general secretary of the opposition United Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Nepal.

The last election was held in May 1999, when the Nepali Congress won 113 of parliament's 205 seats and formed a government. Since then, leadership power struggles within the party have led to three prime ministers in as many years.

More than 3,500 people have been killed since the rebels began their violent campaign in 1996. More than half have died during the past five months as the army began sweeping rebel hide-outs.

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

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