Nepal’s king has dissolved the government

Nepal’s King Gyanendra on Tuesday dismissed the Sher Bahadur Deuba government, appointed last year, and assumed power in the Himalayan Kingdom.

The monarch, in a televised address to the nation, accused the government of failing to restore peace and not taking steps for the conduct of parliamentary elections.

“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.

“I have exercised the rights given to the crown under the present constitution and dissolved the government for the larger interests of the people, country and protection of sovereignty,” he said.

Accusing political parties of ‘indulging in factional fighting’, the monarch said, “In fact, all the democratic forces and political leaders should have united to protect the country’s democracy, national sovereignty, people’s life and property and also protect the country’s economic infrastructure.

“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 also people’s right to live peacefully.”It is the duty of the crown to protect all these segments of society,” he said.

King Gyanendra had appointed Deuba as Prime minister last year and asked him to conduct parliamentary elections and hold peace talks with the Maoist rebelsPrime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba had been reappointed last June, about two years after Gyanendra fired him for failing to tackle a long-standing Maoist revolt against the monarchy. Some 10,000 people have been killed in the nine-year-long Maoist insurgency.
The rebels recently failed to respond to a 13 January deadline set by Deuba to hold peace talks.

Deuba had vowed to hold long-delayed elections later this year after the rebels, fighting to replace the monarchy with a communist republic, failed to respond to his offer for talks when a January 13 deadline expired.