Nepal govt promises to restore democracy
Minister Madhukar Shumshere J.B. Rana told the ADB annual meeting in Istanbul that his government would carry out reforms "towards making the economy market driven by providing full political space for the private sector."
Speaking to finance officials from the 62 other ADB member nations, Rana said that "in three years, we will find Nepal a peaceful, multi-party constitutional democracy."
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. He said the Nepalese government was "fully and sincerely committed to implementing the aid agreements in their letter and spirit," despite King Gyanedra's takeover.
Faced with a bloody, nine-year Maoist rebellion, the monarch declared a state of emergency, suspended most civil liberties and jailed thousands of political opponents and activists.
Although he recently lifted the state of emergency, the king still rules without an elected government and hundreds of dissidents remain in prison.
Rana defended the king's actions, saying they were needed to fight terrorism and to avoid worsening civil strife.
He also called on aid donors to provide humanitarian assistance to as many as 600,000 people displaced by the insurgency.
Despite the conflict, he stressed, Nepal has been able to lower the level of poverty and maintain macroeconomic stability.
Officials earlier said that the ADB, a multilateral aid agency, has not released any new loans or grants to Nepal since the king's takeover, but is maintaining the projects that have already been launched there.
AP adds: Unidentified gunmen fatally shot a prominent Hindu religious leader yesterday while he was touring villages in southwestern Nepal, police said.
Narayan Pokhrel, the chief of the World Hindu Council's Nepal chapter, was attacked by six assailants at Ramuhapur, a village about 185 miles southwest of Katmandu, a local police officer said on condition of anonymity. The motive was unclear.
One of his aides was wounded, said the officer reached by telephone.
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