
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, April 10, 1990                   TAG: 9004100698
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A/2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: KATMANDU, NEPAL                                LENGTH: Medium

NEPAL KING ACCEPTS NEW GOVERNMENT

An opposition leader said today that King Birendra, having bowed to a popular pro-democracy movement and promised a multiparty system, has invited his party to take part in an interim government.

The Nepali Congress Party's acting president, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, said the party also was invited to participate in a constitution-reforms commission and in an inquiry into last week's government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, the bloodiest clash this century in Nepal.

Witnesses said 200 people were killed Friday when police opened fire on about 200,000 Nepalese who were marching on the royal palace in central Katmandu. The government said 10 people died and 107 were injured.

On Sunday, the Harvard-educated Birendra yielded to opposition demands and said he was lifting a 29-year ban on political parties.

"Today I talked to a minister about the king's proposals, but I told him we need time before making a decision," Bhattarai said. "After all we have been out of politics for three decades and need time to reorganize ourselves." He refused to identify the Cabinet minister.

The Nepali Congress formed Nepal's only government under a Western-style democracy before it was dismissed by Birendra's father, King Mahendra, in December 1960 on grounds of corruption and mismanagement.

The king has wielded power since, ruling through a largely rubber-stamp government and a partyless national assembly, the Rashtriya Panchayat, dominated by his nominees.

Prime Minister Lokendra Chand told reporters Monday that his government could be considered an interim government until elections are held, which would follow the formation of the constitution reforms commission and its issuance of a report. Chand gave no dates for either elections or the commission.

Bhattarai said Chand's claim on the interim government was "his view. We don't subscribe to it." Bhattarai also said the king did not elaborate on the new interim government.

He said he will convey the party's decision to the palace on Wednesday.

Birendra, 44, is heir of the Shaha dynasty that has held the throne since the mid-18th century. Many Nepalese, especially illiterate farmers who comprise the bulk of this country's 17 million people, view him as the reincarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu.

by CNB