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Nepali King Gyanendra announced Tuesday in an address to the nation that he had dissolved the coalition government led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.
The King announced through the state-run television that he will form a new government under his own chairmanship, taking control of the Himalayan kingdom for the second time in three years.
"A new Cabinet will be formed under my leadership," he said. "This will restore peace and effective democracy in this country within the next three years."
The king accused the government of failing to conduct parliamentary elections and being unable restore peace in the country.
He also declared a state of emergency. Armored military vehicles with mounted machine guns were patrolling the streets of Katmandu, the capital, and phone lines in the city had been cut.
The king, who is also the supreme commander of the 78,000-member Royal Nepalese Army, said "I have exercised the rights given to the crown under the present constitution and dissolved the government in the larger interests of the people."
"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."
"All the democratic forces and political leaders should have united to protect the country's democracy," Gyanendra said in his half-hour address.
"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.
Gyanendra ascended the throne in June 2001 after his brother King Birendra and 10 members of the royal family were gunned down in a palace massacre committed by Birendra's son.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2005)
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