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Nepalese Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said March 13 that it would be better for the country if King Gyanendra and Crown Prince Paras voluntarily abdicated. Koirala, who has been leading the country's peace talks with Maoist rebels, said the king himself had created the conditions for Nepal to move toward a republican form of government. He added that forthcoming Constituent Assembly elections in June would decide the fate of the monarchy.
The mass unpopularity of King Gyanendra, along with a deal recently reached between the seven-party alliance interim government and Maoist rebels, has allowed Koirala to adopt a more aggressive stance against the king. (He had been giving the monarch more deference since King Gyanendra agreed in 2006 to give up absolute power.)
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