Nepal's key ministers do a disappearing act Monday April 24 2006 16:37 IST IANS KATHMANDU: Nearly three dozen ministers handpicked by Nepal's King Gyanendra have disappeared - at least from public eye - apparently fearing the people's fury as the kingdom seems to be heading for a change of guard. The ministers, who once hogged the headlines in the official media, have gone underground and are not traceable even as King Gyanendra on Friday bowed to nationwide opposition to his rule and said he was returning power to the people. Till Tuesday, Nepalis were accustomed to see the royalist ministers hogging the official media that had the ministers hailing the king's coup last year, saying it had curbed corruption and violence. The other pet ministerial hates were the political parties, which were blasted for their alliance with Maoist insurgents, and the guerrillas themselves, always referred to as "terrorists". When the nationwide anti-King demonstrations began on April 6, the ministers defended the daytime curfew imposed to suppress the protests, and the shoot-at-sight orders given to security forces and suspension of phone services. They toed the palace line that the curbs were needed since the Maoists were using the protests to instigate violence and capture power by force. Since the royal coup, there wasn't a day when at least one of the 35 ministers did not attend some public programme or press conference and use it to praise Gyanendra and condemn his critics. Tulsi Giri, a former prime minister and confidant of the King's father, was recalled from political retirement in India to become one of the two vice-chairmen of the council of ministers, a post not recognised by the constitution. After his appointment, Giri angered many by advocating a military solution to the Maoist insurgency, boasting the King had "broken the spine of terrorism" and advocating tough measures against a critical media. However, equally unpopular, if not more, has been Home Minister Kamal Thapa, dubbed a "rat" by an earlier prime minister, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, for splitting Chand's party. Since this month, Thapa had been threatening the nation with imposition of emergency and other strong-arm tactics. The other minister vying with Thapa for unpopularity has been Shrish Shumsher Rana, a former journalist who was made information and communications minister last year as well as government spokesman. Rana had been threatening the media with stricter curbs and defending the ban on FM radio stations airing news. However, since Wednesday, when a change of guard seemed inevitable and imminent, the ministers have gone into virtual hiding. There is no mention of them in the official media and no sign of their cars on the streets of Kathmandu. Phone calls at some of their offices and residences have also not been answered. There is speculation the nervous ministers are doing some hasty packing, getting ready to flee Nepal when the government falls. Besides ministers, bureaucrats holding key posts under the King's regime, favoured security officers, and members of moribund organisations that became strong under the King would also face public wrath. They include leaders of Nepal's Privy Council, a ceremonial body that became powerful under the King, and the World Hindu Federation, a controversial body that has been receiving state largesse at a time the government can't pay its employees. Opposition leader Girija Prasad Koirala has said when a democratic government comes to power it would institute a commission to try erring ministers and officials.