News Update from Nepal – Extra edition May 19, 2006 Royal powers curtailed drastically In a“historic” and bold move, the reinstated House of Representatives on Thursday has declared itself“supreme” and- for the first time in the country’s history- has drastically curtailed the royal powers. The House unanimously passed the proposal presented before it by 84-year-old Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala this afternoon that has renamed His Majesty’s Government (HMG) Nepal as“Nepal Government” and Royal Nepal Army(RNA) as the “Nepali Army.” Similarly, Nepal- the only Hindu kingdom in the world- has been declared a secular state. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Rastriya Janashakti Party, which are not the constituents of the SPA, also supported the proposal tabled by Koirala. Speaker Subash Nemwang announced that the proposal was passed after no members of the parliament voted against the proposal. Earlier Prime Minister Koirala tabled the proposal depriving His Majesty the King of all the privileges enjoyed by him and declared the reinstated House as“supreme.” He then asked Speaker Nemwang to read out the proposal as he was not able to do so due to his ill health. According to the proposal, the provision of Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Nepalese Army being held by HM the King has been scrapped. The provision has deprived the King of his control over 90,000 soldiers of the country. The next step is the dissolution of the Raj Parishad Standing Committee. The job of the royal advisory body, which became controversial following the February 1 royal takeover, will now be taken care of by the House of Representatives itself. The declaration also said that the parliament would form the necessary procedure to go for the election of the constituent assembly. The proclamation also said that the full executive power would have the parliament. The declaration has also deprived the King of his discretionary powers that were stipulated in the constitution of the kingdom of Nepal, 1990. Now onwards, the monarch will not have any authority to enact the law concerning royal succession, which will be done by the parliament. The declaration scrapped the provision in the constitution that His Majesty the King’s acts could not be challenged before the court. Questions can now be raised against the king’s activities at the House of Representatives and the court. The monarch will no longer convene a session of the parliament as stipulated in the constitution. According to the proclamation, the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall convene the session on the recommendation of the Prime