KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Newly returned Nepalese legislators demanded Saturday that King Gyanendra be stripped of control over the 90,000-strong army, fearing he could use it to regain power after his recent concession to weeks of pro-democracy protests.Nepal's constitution gives the monarch supreme command of the army, and Gyanendra's seizure of power in February 2005 included sending soldiers to arrest opposition politicians, censor the media and guard his palace.
Legislators said Saturday the king must lose control over the army when the constitution is rewritten by a special assembly. Elections for the assembly were proposed Friday by lawmakers meeting for the first time in four years. "It is the prime minister who should be the supreme commander of the army and not the king. The existing laws should be amended immediately, and that is what we are going to do," Shivraj Basnet, a lawmaker from Nepali Congress, the country's largest party, said Saturday.
Army officials could not be immediately reached for comment, but they have said previously they would do whatever the government ordered. The king did not respond to the lawmakers.
While the recent weeks of protests dramatically weakened the king's power, he still has support among a small coterie of politicians, judges and civil servants.