Nepal's parliament was set to
pass a special resolution on Thursday that would curtail the king's powers and
wrest control of the army from the monarch.
"The special proclamation will be presented in the parliament on Thursday and
passed," Home Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula said.
The proclamation is expected to strip the king of his formal title of supreme
commander-in-chief and call the administration Nepal government instead of His
Majesty's Government.
Cutting the king's powers was a key demand of last month's pro-democracy
protests, which led to King Gyanendra reinstating parliament and handing power
back to a multi-party government.
Parliament is due to meet at 3 p.m. (0915 hours GMT).
Sitaula did not give details of the proposals but party officials said the
resolution was expected to empower the parliament to make laws relating to the
king and put the 90,000-member army under parliament's control.
The principal advisory body of the king, the Raj Parishad or privy council,
is also expected to be scrapped.
"It is a parliament without opposition and the adoption of the resolution
will not be a problem," said Yubaraj Ghimire, editor of the news magazine,
Samay.
What could be problematic is that, according to the political parties, any
provision in the existing constitution or laws that contradict the resolution
will be invalid, he said.
"This cannot happen because such a resolution cannot have the force of a
law," Ghimire said. "At most, it can only be seen as a collective intent of the
house."
The government on Thursday banned protests in the heart of the capital and
around key government buildings, two days after hundreds of people protested in
front of the central secretariat building against the delay in clipping the
king's power.
King Gyanendra triggered the crisis when he sacked the government and assumed
full powers on February 1 of last year, saying the government had failed to
quell an revolt that has killed more than 13,000 people.
The new government has reciprocated a rebel ceasefire which the king had
earlier rejected and the Maoists have now the rebel agreed to talks.
The parties and the rebel have also agreed to hold elections to an
assembly to draft a new constitution and decide the future of the monarchy, a
key demand of the Maoists.
On Wednesday, the United States said it remained sceptical about the
commitment of the rebels to the ceasefire and asked them to renounce violence
and lay down their weapons.
