Nepal king faces opposition campaign

Sushil Sharma BBC reporter in Kathmandu

Major opposition parties in Nepal are to launch a joint campaign against King Gyanendra's assumption of executive powers.

The king has pledged democratic rule

The decision was taken at a meeting of top leaders of four parties which had members in the parliament dissolved by the king last year.

King Gyanendra sacked the elected government last October and suspended national elections following a row with the prime minister over the timing of the vote.

The parties say the king's unprecedented move was unconstitutional, and insist on reversing the royal move.

Mounting pressure

Tuesday's meeeting was hosted by the left-wing People's Front.

Ex-premier Koirala is leading the campaign

One of its leaders, Pari Thapa, told the BBC that protests against the king would be peaceful.

He said a committee made up of representatives of all four parties would work out the details of the campaign.

Also present at the meeting was Girija Prasad Koirala, a former prime minister and the leader of the centrist Nepali Congress, the kingdom's largest party.

He was joined by Madhav Kumar Nepal, the general secretary of the largest left-wing party, the United Marxist Leninist (UML).

The parties have held a series of rallies in protest against the king's move.

They say there has been no positive response from the king.

Deepening crisis

A campaign of joint protests could put the king under pressure, but the parties are divided on what he should do.

The Nepali Congress wants the dissolved parliament to be reinstated while the UML favours an all-party interim government.

King Gyanendra has pledged to remain a constitutional monarch in Nepal's multi-party democracy.

But the parties fear the return of an executive monarchy which ran Nepal for 30 years until a pro-democracy movement forced changes in 1990.

Analysts say a confrontation between the king and mainstream political parties will deepen the country's long-running political crisis.

This, they say, will benefit Maoist rebels who are waging an armed struggle aimed at setting up a communist republic.