Kathmandu: Nepal's multi-party Government has finalised draft legislation that would allow women to succeed to the throne amid growing debate about the future of monarchy, a Government minister said on Tuesday.
Under the centuries-old royal tradition and present law, only a male can ascend the kingdom's throne and the king has the sole authority to name his successor.
"If the plan become law, it will allow even a woman to ascend the throne if she is the first child of the king," Tourism Minister Pradip Gyanwali said.
"The move is designed to end discrimination in deciding the successor on the basis of sex. "It also ends the king's power to decide who will succeed him,” he added.
In the absence of a natural heir, a panel headed by the Prime Minister will decide the successor.
"The draft will be presented to the Parliament soon and is expected to be passed easily because there is growing demand for curtailing the king's role," Gyanwali said.
The move comes after violent pro-democracy protests in April led to the king being reduced to a figurehead.
For centuries, Nepal saw the king as a reincarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu.
That image was shattered after the palace massacre in 2001 when Crown Prince Dipendra reportedly killed his parents and most royal family members before turning the gun on himself.
The reputation of King Gyanendra, who succeeded to the throne, has also been battered after he took total power in February last year and by the wave of protests that followed.
The legislation would also eliminate state allowances for minor members of the royal family, limiting them to the king or queen, their consort, the crown prince or princess and the queen mother.
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