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Monarchy abolished in Nepal after Maoist victory
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The royal standard of the monarchy in Nepal has been removed from the former Kathmandu palace of deposed King Gyanendra, officials say. The move comes after Nepal's new constituent assembly voted late on Wednesday to abolish the monarchy.
The king and his family have been given 15 days to leave the residence. The abolition of the monarchy was a key demand of the former Maoist rebels who emerged from April's elections to the assembly as the biggest party...
The government of the new Nepalese republic is expected to be led by the Maoists, who only entered politics in 2006 after signing a peace agreement that ended a decade-long insurgency. The assembly has two years to come up with permanent arrangements for a new constitution.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7425051.stm
Looks like a rare case of a popular vote resulting in peaceful transition in a central Asian state. Congratulations to the Nepalese people. Lets hope that this democratic revolution will continue peacefully.
Makes you wonder how long the Dalai Lama would have lasted in neighbouring Tibet, had the Chinese not ousted him first...;)
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Let's hope so - though the peaceful transition came after a bloody civil war with atrocities on all sides (and my understanding is that there is still plenty of fighting between the army and Maoists as many on either side are unwilling to accept a compromise - which allows the Maoists in Government, but means that there one-party state isn't on the cards)
Against that monarchies are often in trouble, rebellion or no rebellion, when one of the members gets drunks and shoots down his family
Well. Let's hope the Maoists don't slaughter half the country, ala Chairman Mao. Either way, good on them, shows people still have the power.
It isn't a real revolution unless you kill the Monarchy, let's be honest. It's one of those activities the revolutionaries should do.
American? East Germany?
They were less of a massive revolution and more of independence battles, if you know what I mean. Like, America just wanted independence for their bit, it wasn't all of the British empire wanting rid of King George or the houses parliament leading to a political coup. Same with East Germany I guess but I don't know the complete details.
In Nepal it's a case where they have ousted the King from his position as head of the state rather than just claimed part of the state independent from his authority... if that makes sense.
I wouldn't be surprised if someone knocks him off, but it would be a disappointment. Too much bloodshed.
By East Germany do you mean the 'Peaceful Revolution' and the events leading up to the collapse of the regime, or the est. of the GDR as a Socialist state? If it's the latter, it wasn't a 'revolution' - the GDR was basically created by the Soviet Union...
I don't see any difference between this case and the American one, i.e. getting rid of the monarchy and setting up a democracy.
Does it show the will of the people, or just the group in charge changing?
Thing is America was a union of states governed by the British Empire, they didn't get rid of the British monarchy (who was just symbolic by that point IIRC, it was actually the parliament), they just wanted independence from the British Empire. Nepal's situation could be seen to be more similar to what happened with Charles II or the Tzars in Russia (can't remember which one it was at the time, fail), i.e. an absolute monarchy is deposed by the population / parliament / revolution, often leading to a bloody end.
Then again did the Nepalese king have any power or was he just a symbol of power? I know only a few nations have a monarch with any power at all, like Thailand I guess.
Without a large base of support, it couldn't happen, lets be honest.
UKIP for instance. They couldn't do anything.
Also America and East Germany were not revolutions, really. As Shyboy said - independance struggles against a foreign power.