But when Gyanendra dies then what? His only son Paras Shah is the most
But when Gyanendra dies, then what? His only son, Paras Shah, is the most hated man in the country blamed for four hit-and-run killings, and never punished for any of them And that son has no son of his own. The ruling dynasty confronts its doom.Meanwhile in Gorkha, where the eternal flame of the royal family burns, the locals wear their mourning lightly. Why is that? "Most of the villages around here are Maoist," a student told me "They control the villages and they are very kind. When our government is tyrannical, the Maoists give food to the poor people..."The wheel comes around. Two and a half centuries ago, Prithvi Narayan Shah gazed from his fort and dreamed of Kathmandu. Now it is the turn of the ultra-left revolutionaries, biding their time in the hills while the Kathmandu establishment obligingly implodes.. Reformist supporters of Iran's President Mohammad Khatami were last night celebrating a comprehensive election victory, as partial results suggested voters had given the conservative establishment a bloody nose in Friday's poll.
Reformist supporters of Iran's President Mohammad Khatami were last night celebrating a comprehensive election victory, as partial results suggested voters had given the conservative establishment a bloody nose in Friday's poll. Of the 19.5 million votes declared by 3pm yesterday, Mr Khatami had close to 16 million, more than 77 per cent of the vote. If reflected nationwide, this pattern is expected to give him more than 22 million votes, and a big increase on the 69 per cent he got when he was first elected president, in 1997.By contrast, his closest rival, Ahmad Tavakoli, a British-educated economist, had a mere 15 per cent of the votes. The remaining eight candidates, all of them conservative-backed, could only muster around 5 per cent between them.Akbar Nabavi, a spokesman at Mr Tavakoli's campaign headquarters, told The Independent on Sunday that Mr Tavakoli's legal advisers were investigating "the numerous reports of irregularities".But Seyed-Reza Zavare'i, a member of the conservative watchdog which has the authority to declare the results invalid, said he thought these irregularities would not be serious enough to "warrant the cancellation of results".Last night, jubilant reformists predicted that Mr Khatami's victory would lend him momentum in his struggle against Iran's powerful but unelected establishment, which has thwarted his attempts to reform Iran's austere theocracy.In the past four years, the President has seen key supporters jailed, and friendly newspapers banned. Reformist bills enacted in parliament have been shot down by clerics.Fatemeh Haghighatju, a reformist deputy, warned the establishment to heed the results: "All parts of the regime had better accept the demands of the people Reform needs to flow into all parts of the regime.". Thousands of South Africans paid tribute yesterday to a 12-year-old Aids activist, Nkosi Johnson, in an emotional funeral service shunned by President Thabo Mbeki and his senior ministers.
Thousands of South Africans paid tribute yesterday to a 12-year-old Aids activist, Nkosi Johnson, in an emotional funeral service shunned by President Thabo Mbeki and his senior ministers. Nkosi, who was born with HIV and died a week ago, attained iconic status. Up to 5,000 people attended the service in Johannesburg, including the former Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda, Africa's leading Aids activist, who flew in specially for the ceremony.Mr Mbeki and senior ministers shunned the funeral at which government policy on Aids came under strong attack from the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in southern Africa, Mvume Dandala."I don't care what position you take in this debate on Aids. I don't care what position you take on anti-retroviral drugs, just show this country, show these children some compassion," Mr Dandala roared in a clear reference to the government.Mr Mbeki has caused a whirlwind of criticism by casting doubt on the causal link between HIV and Aids and questioning the use of drugs on cost and safety grounds.His appointment of "Aids dissidents" many of whom argue that the disease is caused by a combination of recreational drug use and poverty to his own advisory panel on Aids has also raised concern among scientists.Mr Mbeki yesterday chose instead to visit Johannesburg's sprawling township of Alexandra where he launched a 1.3 billion rand (£100m) renewal project to revive and modernise the slum.. The deaths of the three key men behind President Robert Mugabe's coercive electoral strategy has left the embattled Zimbabwean leader and his ruling Zanu-PF party in disarray and confusion. The deaths of the three key men behind President Robert Mugabe's coercive electoral strategy has left the embattled Zimbabwean leader and his ruling Zanu-PF party in disarray and confusion. Mr Mugabe and his ministers appear to believe these deaths are not natural or accidental.