国际英语新闻：Nepal declared republic, monarchy abolished

KATHMANDU, May 28 (Xinhua) -- The first meeting of Constituent Assembly that sat late at Wednesday night, at the International Conference Center (ICC) of capital Kathmandu has declared Nepal a federal democratic republic.

    The much awaited first CA meeting, although was scheduled for Wednesday morning, was delayed by more than 10 hours as top political party leaders at Baluwatar, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's official residence in Nepali capital Kathmandu, failed to reach consensus over the issues of power sharing, nomination of26 CA members and power segregation of the president and the prime minister.

    While the intense talks was going on, hundreds of CA members gathered for the first meeting had to desperately wait in the ICC premises. Although there were supposed to be 601 CA members for the meeting, 26 of them are yet to be finalized from the recommendation procedure and interestingly, most of them were seen busy on their mobile phones, trying to reach their fellow party leaders to learn about the latest development in Baluwatar.

    Thousands of Nepali people gathered in front of ICC, to pressurize the parties to end the talks conclusively at the earliest and sit for the first CA meeting. Chanting slogans of victory and demanding an immediate declaration of Nepal a republication, many party cadres with their respective flags desperately waited in front of ICC for hours.

Nepali men celebrate the end of monarchy outside the convention hall where Nepal's newly elected Constituent Assembly (CA) is meeting, in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, on May 28, 2008. The first meeting of the CA was held on Wednesday to declare Nepal a federal democratic republic.

"It's a big day for every Nepalese and a victorious moment. We feel that our contributions have finally paid off. We are very excited yet annoyed," says Rabindra Bhandari, a member of Young Communist League (YCL) on Wednesday afternoon.

    "It's been more than six hours waiting in front of ICC and yet no sign of meeting has come ahead. The parties should immediately reach an agreement and sit for the CA meeting. We are not going home unless we hear that Nepal has been declared a federal republic," he said.

    Similarly, Bhagat Magar, 29, claimed that it was the first stepmaking of a New Nepal and that he expects a true patriotic approach from all the leaders towards the nation.

    "When we vote the leaders, we expect something in return from them and mostly they cannot meet our expectations. Previously we have gathered many bitter experiences where the public have been largely deceived. But this time we want the leaders to be honest and work for the nation building rather than working for themselves and party interests," says Magar.

    Like Mager, the whole nation has welcomed the change, believing that a permanent peace would prevail in the country and that rapid development process would propel ahead. Numerous victory rallies hit the streets through out the day and night in celebration of the historic achievement.

Nepali people celebrate the end of monarchy outside the convention hall where Nepal's newly elected Constituent Assembly (CA) is meeting, in Kathmandu, capital of Nepal, on May 28, 2008. The first meeting of the CA was held on Wednesday to declare Nepal a federal democratic republic.

The first CA meeting has given the King 15 days of ultimatum to leave the palace. The pro-king parties had also staged rally in New Road in Kathmandu downtown, demanding not to abolish the monarchy system from Nepal.

    Security was tightened in the ICC area for possible violence. Two persons were injured during a scuffle between police personnel and demonstrators at Baneshor in Nepali capital Kathmandu Wednesday evening. Also two bombs blasted at the ICC gate at around 20:15 local time (1430 GMT) when Prime Minister Koirala and Chairman Prachanda of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was talking inside the venue ahead of the first meeting.