“Hang in there”

A week after the 1 February 2005 coup by King Gyanendra, Nepali Times interviewed American Ambassador to Nepal James Moriarty. He urged the Nepali people to "hang in there", to unite, to face the insurgency and also to rebuild democratic institutions. Twenty years down the line, perhaps these words would also be good advice for Americans under the chaotic second Trump term. Excerpts of the interview published on issue #235 18 – 24 February 2005:

Nepali Times: Your reactions on the developments after the royal takeover?

James Moriarty: We have said we are extremely worried and we want to see the detainees released immediately. We want to see constitutional freedoms restored. We also want to see the government reaching out to the political parties.

What has been your role in all this?

We have had to unfortunately remind the government that our assistance is under constant review and that these events are putting pressure on our provision of the assistance for the government of Nepal.

You met the king before February First, did you know what was coming?

I want to state this as categorically as I can, I had no idea that this was happening. We had made it clear we thought multiparty democracy was the way to go. We were worried any sort of unilateral move by the king would end up walking the country back away from democracy.

There are allegations that was for public consumption but you covertly backed the royal move.

I say that is absolutely false. I know that is absolutely false. I am in a position to know and that is absolutely not the case.

How optimistic are you that multiparty democracy will be restored?

I think democracy here has deeper roots. I realise that Nepal is facing huge problems and the king says that is why he had to act. So be it. But again, he has stated that his goals are to return to multiparty democracy and address the Maoist insurgency effectively. We look forward to his doing so.

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