Thousands of people attended a mass meeting organised by CPN-UML in the capital Sunday protesting the October 4 move by King Gyanendra in dismissing the then Deuba government on grounds of inefficiency. King Gyanendra assumed executive powers by invoking article 127 of the constitution.
The CPN-UML supporters arrived in the city from all around the Kathmandu valley, marched shouting pro democracy statements and converged at Tundhikhel. Party general secretary Madav Nepal told the gathering protests will continue without giving details of the second phase of the protests.
Sunday’s mass meeting was the final programme of an awareness campaign in the Valley. Nepal said a constitutional monarch had no right to dismiss the Deuba government. Bam Dev Gautam and K P Oli also addressed the masses.
The CPN-UML including the mainstream Congress have been claming that the move of King Gyanendra to dismiss the elected Prime Minister was ‘unconstitutional’. They have urged the King to form an all party government representing all the political parties to hold the elections to the House of Representatives.
The CPN-UML has stated that it will launch a nationwide struggle to press the King to form a democratic government represented by all the political parties and pave the way for holding early elections.
Around 20,000 people attended the mass meeting amid tight security.