King Cancels UN Visit

This has to be seen as a victory on two fronts for the democrats.

1. The scheduled protest rally for September 16 was gathering so much momentum that he felt it was best not to face it. It was not just us. Numerous countries were going to organize a walkout in the General Assembly when the king was set to speak.
   
2. The ball has really started to roll after the Maoist ceasefire. The king is under intense pressure to reciprocate. He can not afford to leave the country.
   

This is great news. Our September 16 rally has been proven a grand success. Just the threat of it worked.

King’s UN visit cancelled
KOL Report

This News was Posted on: 2005-09-05 18:03:54

KATHMANDU, Sept 6 - King Gyanendra’s proposed UN visit has been cancelled, according to a highly placed government source.

The source disclosed on Monday that the government has cancelled the booking of the plane of the national flag carrier, RNAC, signaling that the monarch’s visit stands cancelled.

The monarch was scheduled to visit New York to address the 60th session of the UN General Assembly on September 16, which will be attended by the heads of states of more than 170 countries.

Now, Nepal will be represented by Minister for Foreign Affairs Ramesh Nath Pandey. The list of other officials accompanying Pandey has not been released yet.

This development comes two days after Maoist supremo Prachanda announced a three-month ceasefire on Saturday. Prachanda has also called for UN involvement in resolving the ongoing conflict.

• Royal visit to the UN canceled: Reports NepalNews ..... No reasons were given...... royal palace on Monday instructed the Foreign Ministry to stop preparation for His Majesty’s visit to New York and Germany........Foreign Ministry then informed the members of the royal entourage about the cancellation of the visit over phone...... The Foreign Ministry had arranged Rs 102 million for the royal visit....... ‘Nepal Road Show’-- the programme being organised jointly by Nepal Tourism Board and Nepali travel trade entrepreneurs—in various US cities coinciding with the royal visit has also been canceled...... Foreign ministry officials also failed to organize meetings between heads of governments of various western countries and the king. A number of Nepali and international organizations were reportedly planning to organize demonstrations in New York and other American cities....... the controversy pointed towards a complete `showdown’ between the royal government and the opposition parties