Nepal's ex-king Gyanendra will leave his palace on Wednesday, a day before the expiry of a deadline set by a constitutional assembly which abolished the monarchy, a palace official said. He is expected to move to a former hunting lodge on the outskirts of Kathmandu, with his palace in the heart of the city set to be turned into a museum.
"The (former) king will leave the palace on Wednesday, and before leaving he will hold a press conference," Phanindra Raj Pathak, the chief of the palace press secretariat told AFP Tuesday. Nepal's monarchy was abolished on May 28 by the constitutional assembly, which was set up following a peace deal between Maoist insurgents and mainstream political parties. The Maoists, who have told the king to bow out gracefully or else be put on trial, welcomed the news.
"It's a very positive step that the king has peacefully accepted the decision to vacate the palace. We are thankful to him," Krishna Bahadur Mahara, spokesman for the former rebels, told AFP. "It has started a new era for peaceful political transition, and we honour his decision to live as a common citizen." The precise time of the former king's press conference has yet to be decided the palace official said, adding that it would probably be Wednesday evening.
Earlier this week, officials who were conducting an audit of palace property complained that the ex-monarch had failed to hand over the country's jewel-encrusted crown, but the palace official said the national treasure would be handed over before Gyanendra leaves Wednesday. "Of course he will hand over the crown before leaving," said Pathak, the palace press official.
"How can he take away the crown and sceptre when he is peacefully exiting the palace and giving up all of his royal privileges?" The ex-monarch has been granted temporary permission to stay in a palace in Nagarjun, close to the capital, and the government of the newly republican country will continue to provide security, a home ministry spokesman said.
"The former king and queen will have 75 security personnel based in Nagarjun palace for their protection, fifty from the armed police and 25 from the army," Modraj Dottel, home ministry spokesman told AFP.
"We will give him extra security to escort him to his new residence on Wednesday if he requests it," said Dottel. Gyanendra ascended the throne in June 2001 after a palace massacre in which the then crown prince - who was drunk and on drugs and furious at being prevented from marrying the woman he loved - killed most of the family and himself.
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