'Coup d'état': Nepalese king sacks government

Nepal's king declares emergency

Nepal's King Gyanendra has sacked the country's government and declared a state of emergency.
Phone lines have been cut, the airport shut, and armed vehicles are on patrol.

The king says the cabinet has failed to fulfil its mandate and bring peace to Nepal, which has been in the throes of a Maoist rebellion for years.

Some 10,000 people have been killed in the nine-year insurgency, which has seen the rebels gain control of vast stretches of the countryside.

In the first international reaction, India says the development constitutes a serious setback to the cause of democracy in Nepal.

"The latest developments in Nepal bring the monarchy and the mainstream political parties in direct confrontation with each other," a foreign ministry spokesman said.

House arrests

Soldiers have surrounded the prime minister's residence and the homes of other government leaders - effectively placing them under house arrest.


Some people have already been on the streets, protesting at the removal at the last vestiges of democracy, says the BBC's Charles Haviland in Kathmandu.

But the leader of one of the main parties in the dismissed governing coalition, Madhav Nepal of the Communist Party, who is now under house arrest, said the king's real motive was to increase his already extensive powers.

"If the king is really acting in the interest of the people and the nation, he could have talked to us and he could have shown his concern over the worsening security situation here.

"But the king has not talked to any of the people. He has sacked the present government and he is blaming all the political parties.

"So looking at all these things, actually this is a coup, a coup d'etat."

The move has plunged Nepal into fresh uncertainty, our correspondent says.

King Gyanendra dismissed the elected government in 2002. Early in 2004, political parties began a sustained campaign of street protests demanding the restoration of a democratically elected government.

The king has since appointed a series of prime ministers.

The incumbent, Sher Bahadur Deuba, was himself reappointed last June, two years after King Gyanendra sacked him for failing to contain a Maoist insurgency.

The rebels recently failed to respond to a 13 January deadline set by Mr Deuba to hold peace talks.

New cabinet

"I have decided to dissolve the government because it has failed to make necessary arrangements to hold elections by April and protect democracy, the sovereignty of the people and life and property," the king said in his announcement.

He added that a new cabinet would be formed under his leadership, which would "restore peace and effective democracy in this country within the next three years".

King Gyanendra accused the country's fractious political parties of behaving selfishly and of giving no thought to the Nepali people and the welfare of the country.

He himself, he added, was committed to democracy and multi-party rule.

Maoist threat

Our correspondent says there had been speculation of a royal takeover for weeks, as violence and political instability increased in Nepal.

Analysts say with fears growing over the rebels' increased strength, supporters of the king felt he should formally take over to deal directly with the crisis.

The rebels want to replace the country's constitutional monarchy with a communist republic.

King Gyanendra assumed the throne in dramatic circumstances in 2001 after his brother, King Birendra, was killed in a palace massacre.