Katmandu: Supporters of Nepal’s deposed royal family rallied in the capital on Sunday demanding the restoration of the monarchy ahead of March elections.
It was the first rally by supporters of ousted King Gyanendra since a wave of violent demonstrations by disgruntled youth in September installed an interim government that set fresh parliamentary elections in March.
“We love our king. Bring back the king,” the rally participants chanted around the statue of King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who started the Shah dynasty in the 18th century. The last Shah king — Gyanendra — was forced to step down and the monarchy was abolished in 2008, making Nepal a republic.
“The last and only alternative for this country is king and monarchy only” said protester Samrat Thapa. “In the present context and the path country has taken after the Gen Z movement, there needs to be monarchy restored to manage the situation.”
Sunday marks the birth anniversary of Prithvi Narayan and the annual rally in the past has turned violent with clashes between demonstrators and police. Two people were killed during a pro-king rally last March. Sunday’s gathering was peaceful as riot police kept a close watch on the event.
Nepal’s royal family still enjoys significant support.
The interim government, headed by Nepal’s first female prime minister, Sushila Karki, a retired Supreme Court judge, took over following protests by Gen Z activists complaining of corruption, lack of opportunities, employment and poor governance. They were triggered by the previous government’s short-lived ban on social media.
Karki has been criticized for dragging her feet in filing corruption cases.
Nepalese royalists demand monarchy restoration ahead of March elections
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Nepalese royalists demand monarchy restoration ahead of March elections
- The last Shah king, Gyanendra, was forced to step down and the monarchy was abolished in 2008, making Nepal a republic
Philippines discovers new gas deposit to boost depleted reserves
- Source near Malampaya field believed to contain 2.8 billion cubic meters of gas
- It will not take much time to access the gas, expert says, as infrastructure is ready
MANILA: The Philippines on Monday announced a new natural gas discovery, with the reservoir near the country’s largest offshore site estimated to be enough to power about 5.7 million households per year.
About 2.8 billion cubic meters (98 billion cubic feet) of gas were found 5km east of the Malampaya field near the island of Palawan, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said in a Facebook video.
“This is equivalent to nearly 14 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. That means it could supply power to more than 5.7 million households, 9,500 buildings, or nearly 200,000 schools,” Marcos said.
“This helps Malampaya’s contribution and strengthens our domestic gas supply for many years to come. Initial testing showed that the well flowed at 60 million cubic feet (1.7 million cubic meters) per day.”
Malampaya, discovered in 1989 and operational since 2001, is the Philippines’ most important natural gas field, located off the west coast of Palawan Island. It is also a key part of the country’s energy infrastructure.
It supplies natural gas for electricity generation in Luzon, the main island of the Philippines, powering several major plants.
Prime Energy Resources Development, which manages the Malampaya project, said in a statement that the new reservoir, Malampaya East-1, was discovered by a “a fully Filipino-led team, reflecting the country’s growing capability in upstream energy development.”
Prime Energy’s well data indicate that Malampaya East-1 volumes are equivalent to about one-third of the remaining producible gas volumes at the original Malampaya.
Against the backdrop of Malampaya’s decline, it will help to secure the country’s gas supplies. It will also keep operational the expensive infrastructure that was installed to operate the legacy field.
“The original Malampaya was like 2.3 trillion cubic feet, so it’s like 4 percent of the original find. I still think that is significant in light of the decline of the Malampaya gas field,” said Alberto Dalusung III, energy transition adviser at the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities.
The new gas discovery benefits from ready access to processing facilities such as the 504 km undersea pipeline that was built for Malampaya, which will make it available sooner.
Dalusung estimated it would take up to two years for Filipino consumers to benefit from the new resources.
“The infrastructure is already there,” he said. “You don’t have to build the pipeline. All you have to do is find new gas resources, which we did.”
