Crisis in Nepal: Was it a wise decision to sack the PM?

[Editor]

In a shocking move, King Gyanendra of Nepal has sacked the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and imposed a state of emergency in Nepal for the next three years. This is sure a step towards undermining the democratic system in our neighboring country. The reason for this drastic step as cited by the king is the failure of Deuba's government to improve security in the face of the country facing the Maoist rebellion.

My gutfeel is that the king should have waited and made way for the election process rather than imposing emergency and taking away the basic fundamental rights of the people. Even the phone and Internet, the basic means of communication for the local people have been suspended. The elections would have in some way restored the democratic process in the country. Although what he did was in keeping with the constitution, however it does highlight a sense of insecurity.

According to reports, hundreds of tourists have been stranded in the Nepal and all the flights to the country have been cancelled. The country, which used to be a dreamland for tourists, is being now consciously avoided due to the rebellion. It is in India's interest that the matter is resolved speedily rather than things taking a drastic turn. The king has also urged the international community that he is committed to restoring democracy, as these countries are the major aid donors to Nepal.

This move does seem to be a wee bit immature...What is your viewpoint?

[Ankur]

Editor: It came as a surprise, this whole Nepal crisis, there was not even an iota of predictability in what had happened.

The newspapers were all concertrating on other stories and this came as a surprise, at a time when it seemed that elections would happen in Nepal and things would get back to normal.

Now, the king has sworn in his own loyal cabinet ministers and let's see what happens next. The Saarc summit was cancelled because of the same.

I agree that this move of the King was immature and he should have weighed the pros and cons beforecoming to a hasty decision.