King Gyanendra dismissed Nepal’s coalition government on Tuesday and took charge of administering the country, which is battling a Maoist revolt, as political leaders accused him of staging a coup.
”I have exercised the rights given to the crown under the present Constitution and dissolved the government in the larger interests of the people,” the king said in an address on nationwide television.
Gyanendra, who sacked Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba for the second time in two years, said he will head the new government and form a council of ministers.
He promised to ”restore democracy and law and order in the country in the next three years”.
”For the larger interest of the Nepalese general public, the nation and democracy and people’s fundamentals rights, we have decided to form a new government under my own chairmanship,” the king said.
Opposition leaders said Gyanendra, who ascended the throne after a palace massacre in 2001, has staged a new coup.
Residents of Kathmandu, reached by telephone, said outgoing landline telephone and cellphone links were cut.
”The king has staged a coup and taken over the country’s administration and other powers into his own hands,” said Sujata Koirala, leader of the women’s wing of the Nepali Congress and daughter of a former prime minister.
Troops and armed police patrolled the streets and surrounded the palace and other key sites, such as government buildings.
State radio said the king has suspended some articles of the 1991 Constitution but did not say which.
Several key leaders — including those of the Nepal Communist Party-United Marxist and Leninist, the main partners in the former coalition government — are under house arrest, party sources said.
Security forces are barring entry to Deuba’s residence, witnesses said.
‘Factional fighting’
The king accused political parties of ”indulging in factional fighting”.
”All the democratic forces and political leaders should have united to protect the country’s democracy,” Gyanendra said in his half-hour speech.
”Innocent children were found massacred and the government could not achieve any important and effective results. The crown traditionally is held responsible for the protection of national sovereignty, democracy and people’s right to live peacefully,” he said.
The king summoned Deuba for a meeting on Monday night to discuss the ”current law-and-order situation and the proposed elections,” a former Cabinet minister and Deuba confidant said.
Deuba had promised to hold long-postponed elections after the rebels, fighting to topple the monarchy and set up a communist republic, failed to respond to his mid-January ultimatum to agree to peace talks.
But he had yet to set a date and his coalition partners opposed holding elections before negotiations resumed with the rebels, who had vowed to sabotage the polls.
The Maoist conflict, which has claimed more than 11 000 lives since 1996, has become increasingly bloody in the past couple of years.
The king first sacked Deuba in 2002 and branded him incompetent for failing to hold elections and fight the Maoist revolt. He also dissolved the Parliament.
But Gyanendra recalled the veteran politician last year, ordering him to hold elections and resume talks with Maoists after international and domestic pressure grew on him to restore democracy.
Last week, the king of nearby Bhutan warned of a ”real threat” that the Maoist revolt in Nepal could escalate out of control with negative implications for India and his own tiny Himalayan kingdom.
”We sincerely hope … some initiatives will be taken by the political parties in Nepal to resolve the Maoist problem,” said King Jigme Singye Wangchuk.
Gyanendra became king in June 2001 after his brother, King Birendra, and most of the royal family were shot dead by the former crown prince, who was high on drink and drugs. The crown prince also killed himself. — Sapa-AFP