Kathmandu: Dismissing as a 'betrayal' King Gyanendra's announcement that he will hand over executive power to people, the opposition Nepali Congress on Friday said the monarch fell short of promising a constituent assembly as demanded by political parties.
"He has betrayed the people's aspirations. This is not for the King to ask the (seven-party) alliance to form the government. It is not the mandate. Our mandate was to reinstate Parliament, have dialogue with Maoists and form a constituent assembly," Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala said.
Earlier, the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) had rejected the proposal outright.
However, Nepal's Information Minister Shishir Rana said the King did refer to Maoists and addressed political demands to surrender executive power. Rana said the responsiblity now lay with the seven-party alliance to form the government.
But the Nepali Congress leader, whose party is one of the major constituents of the alliance, insisted the pro-democracy grouping had never demanded elections that the King spoke about while announcing return of democracy to the Himalayan Kingdom.
"We are not interested in elections at this time. We are asking for formation of a constituent assembly. Elections will come later after talks with Maoists," he said when asked whether his party supported the King's proposals to form government and name a Prime Minister.
Koirala pointed out that the King had only announced that he would relinquish executive power and not the state power. The King was expected to transfer state power as well to the seven-party alliance, he said.
Asked whether his party was ready for fresh elections, Koirala accused the King of 'hoodwinking' both Nepal and the international community.
"The legality is that he has to reinstate Parliament and that (Parliament) discuss with Maoists to have a constituent assembly. The situation is not conducive for fresh polls," he said.
"The seven parties' agenda has not been addressed by the king, and there is nothing new in the king's statement," vice-president of the Nepali Congress Sushil Koirala told the BBC Nepali service.
"The movement will end only after abolishing the autocratic monarchy," he said. This is the conspiracy of the king to split the parties, he said.
"The movement has gained momentum and will end only after fulfilling the agenda of the seven parties," he said.
Spokesman of the Maoists, Krishna Bahadur Mahara, told the BBC that the King's address has no meaning to resolve the present crisis.
"People are raising their voices for abolishing autocratic monarchy and establishing republic," he said.
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