King Gyanendra

King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev of Nepal (born July 7, 1947) has been the king of Nepal since June 2001.

As the second son of Prince (later king) Mahendra, the infant Gyanendra was declared king for two months (1950–1951) when the rest of his family was in exile in India, but was not internationally recognized. His grandfather Tribhuvan was returned to the throne shortly after, when the Rana family conceded power.

Fifty years later, when his nephew Dipendra apparently staged a murder suicide, killing most of the family, including King Birendra (Dipendra's father, and Gyanendra's brother), Gyanendra became king again.

As king he has sought to exercise active control over the government, twice in three years dismissing the elected Prime Minister to appoint governments of his own choosing. His brother Birendra had conceded a constitutional monarchy in 1990 accepting a minor role for the King in government, and Gyanendra's interference in this constitutional settlement has provoked substantial popular unrest. Gyanendra took control once again on February 1, 2005, accusing prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's government of failing to make arrangements for parliamentary elections and of being unable to restore peace in the country, which is currently in the midst of a widespread rebellion by Maoists waging a "people's war". [1]

Gyanendra promised that peace and democratic institutions would be restored within three years, but the insurgents' threat of "a massive bloodbath" if elections were announced dissuaded Deuba from doing so, and their opposition will likely continue in the face of whoever leads the government under Gyanendra [2] [3] (who for the time being appears to be serving as his own prime minister). The period of direct rule has been accompanied by repression of dissent [4]. International organisations have expressed grave concerns about the safety of journalists and human rights defenders, following the king's decision to restrict civil liberties, including freedom of the press, the constitutional protection against censorship and the right against preventive detention [5].