Reports: Nepal king in talks ahead of vote on fate of monarchy (Extra)

May 28, 2008, 9:18 GMT

Kathmandu - King Gyanendra is holding consultations with his aides and supporters hours before a special assembly was expected to vote him out and end 240 years of the monarchy in Nepal, news reports said Wednesday.

The Nepalnews website quoted palace sources as saying the king was taking advice from palace officials and ministers from the government that he formed after seizing full executive powers in February 2005 before nationwide protests prompted him to relinquish those powers 14 months later.

'Crown Prince Paras, whose playboy image also contributed much to the fall of monarchy, and some members of the royal family were also actively participating in the intense discussion,' the website said.

It further reported that the king was expected to issue a message later in the day.

The first meeting of the constituent assembly, which is to eventually draft a new constitution, and its expected decision on the monarchy was pushed back by several hours Wednesday after differences emerged among the Nepali Congress, the Maoists and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist over the authority of the assembly's ceremonial president.

If stripped of his title as king, Gyanendra would become an ordinary citizen, but he has made it clear that he would not leave the country and go into exile.

Gyanendra, who was staying at a resort on the outskirts of Kathmandu, moved back into the Narayanhiti Royal Palace Tuesday evening.

Newspaper reports in Kathmandu said the political parties have agreed to give him 15 days to a month to leave the palace after the vote.