{"id":11030,"date":"2026-04-24T02:35:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T02:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/?p=11030"},"modified":"2026-04-24T02:39:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T02:39:34","slug":"democracy-day-being-celebrated-with-various-programs-across-nepal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/?p=11030","title":{"rendered":"Democracy Day Being Celebrated with Various Programs Across Nepal"},"content":{"rendered":"

Himal Hub \/<\/strong> Nepal is observing its 20th Democracy Day today with various programs across the country. The day of Baisakh 11 is regarded as a historic and golden moment when the direct rule of then King Gyanendra Shah came to an end and the foundation of a new Nepal was laid. In remembrance of this milestone, Baisakh 11 is celebrated every year as Democracy Day.<\/p>\n

On this day in 2006 (2063 B.S.), the autocratic monarchy bowed before the power of the people after the historic People\u2019s Movement of 2006 (Jana Andolan II) reached its peak. The movement was led by an alliance of seven political parties along with the then rebel Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).<\/p>\n

King Gyanendra subsequently announced the reinstatement of the dissolved House of Representatives and expressed his commitment to move forward in accordance with the roadmap outlined by political parties. Following this, the reinstated Parliament, in its meeting on May 18 (Jestha 4), curtailed royal powers, suspended the monarchy, and vested the authority of the head of state in the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n

The Parliament, which had been dissolved on May 22, 2002 (Jestha 8, 2059 B.S.), was restored on April 24, 2006 (Baisakh 11, 2063 B.S.) in line with the roadmap of the agitating parties. Since 2007 (2064 B.S.), Democracy Day has been celebrated nationwide.<\/p>\n

After the dissolution of Parliament in October 2002 (Ashoj 2059 B.S.), elections could not be held due to the ongoing armed conflict. In the absence of elections, King Gyanendra repeatedly appointed and dismissed prime ministers at his discretion, including Lokendra Bahadur Chand, Surya Bahadur Thapa, and Sher Bahadur Deuba.<\/p>\n

On February 1, 2005 (Magh 19, 2061 B.S.), King Gyanendra assumed direct control of the state, prompting a 12-point agreement between the seven-party alliance and the then insurgent CPN (Maoist). This agreement unified previously divided political forces and accelerated the movement.<\/p>\n

From February 2006, under the leadership of former Prime Minister and then Nepali Congress President Girija Prasad Koirala, protests intensified, particularly in Kathmandu. By April, millions of people had taken to the streets. Massive demonstrations, including a sea of protesters along Kathmandu\u2019s Ring Road, forced the king to accept the parties\u2019 roadmap.<\/p>\n

Late on Baisakh 11, King Gyanendra announced the reinstatement of Parliament based on the draft prepared by the agitating parties and called for its session. He declared that sovereignty had been returned to the people. This is why the day is commemorated as Democracy Day, marking the foundation of Nepal\u2019s republican transformation.<\/p>\n

On May 18, 2006 (Jestha 4, 2063 B.S.), Parliament passed a landmark proclamation reducing the powers of the palace and suspending the monarchy. It also endorsed a resolution to bring the Maoists into the peace process and to hold elections for a Constituent Assembly. This declaration is often referred to as Nepal\u2019s \u201cMagna Carta.\u201d<\/p>\n

Building on this foundation, the first Constituent Assembly election was held on April 10, 2008 (Chaitra 28, 2064 B.S.). The Assembly\u2019s first meeting on May 28, 2008 (Jestha 15, 2065 B.S.) formally abolished the 240-year-old monarchy. Although the first Assembly could not promulgate a constitution, it accomplished significant groundwork.<\/p>\n

Following the second Constituent Assembly election held on November 19, 2013 (Mangsir 4, 2070 B.S.), the newly elected body promulgated the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on September 20, 2015 (Ashoj 3, 2072 B.S.).<\/p>\n

In line with the Constitution, elections have been conducted at all three levels\u2014federal, provincial, and local\u2014leading to the implementation of the new governance system. These governments now operate accordingly.<\/p>\n

As Baisakh 11 marks the gateway to this major political transformation, it continues to be observed as Democracy Day.<\/p>\n

However, public dissatisfaction persists due to unmet expectations. Frequent changes in government and corruption scandals have led to growing frustration among citizens toward the governance system. Democracy Day will hold greater meaning if these concerns are addressed in time and all citizens are given the opportunity to truly benefit from the promises of democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Himal Hub \/ Nepal is observing its 20th Democracy Day today with various programs across the country. The day of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11032,"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11030\/revisions\/11032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/himalhub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}