Nepal, 2005 — auto-coup
Event Summary
On 1 February 2005 King Gyanendra of Nepal dismissed the government of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, assumed direct executive power, and declared a state of emergency, the fullest royal seizure of power in the crisis that had begun with his October 2002 dismissal of the same prime minister. Citing the failure of successive governments to hold elections or defeat the Maoist insurgency, the king announced he would rule directly for up to three years. In a dramatic assertion of control he shut the airport, cut fixed and mobile phone lines and internet service, placed the media under military oversight, and had soldiers surround the homes of Deuba and other political leaders, who were detained.
Gyanendra denied his takeover was a coup, but it was widely condemned by India, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and it deepened the country's crisis. Over the following year security forces arbitrarily arrested thousands of political activists, journalists, and students. Facing a broad opposition alliance and mass protests, the king was forced to restore parliament in April 2006, and in 2008 the monarchy was abolished.
Researched Details
Researched
Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.
Sources
Editorial Note
Cross-Reference
Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.
Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:
- Cline Center id
79002012005
How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.
Outcome and Target
Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, dismissed and detained under house arrest; later jailed.
Baseline coding: Incumbent executive removed from power. Recorded leader fate: deposed; placed under house arrest; arrested or jailed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.
Baseline Dataset Citation
Baseline Source-Document Entries
Wikipedia
New York Times
Irish Times
Globe and Mail
This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →