Anti-king protests in Nepal

By Sushil Sharma
BBC correspondent in Kathmandu

Thousands of protesters in Nepal have held demonstrations against King Gyanendra less than 24 hours after he appointed his own nominee as the new prime minister.

The new prime minister wants the opposition to join the government

The king appointed Surya Bahadur Thapa, of the right-wing Rastriya Prajatantra Party, in defiance of the major opposition parties who had their own nominee for the post.

The demonstrators shouted slogans against the king and blocked the movement of government vehicles across the country, stoning some of them.

Opposition parties have vowed to step up protests against the government.

They argue that Mr Thapa is no different from his predecessor, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, who came from the same party.

Mr Chand stepped down last week over mounting protests at King Gyanendra's assumption of executive powers eight months ago.

Five of the six parties that had members in the dissolved parliament are at loggerheads with the king because they say his move was unconstitutional.

The confrontation between the king and the major parties is likely to deepen and further prolong Nepal's political crisis

They have been demanding that the king either reinstate parliament or form an all-party government consisting of their nominees.

After Mr Chand resigned last Friday, they unanimously proposed a key leader, Madhav Kumar Nepal, of the left-wing United Marxist Leninist (UML) to succeed him.

Consensus pledge

The newly-appointed prime minister, Mr Thapa, 75, was sworn in on Thursday.

He has vowed to forge a national consensus and says he will persuade the opposition parties to join the government.

But the angry opposition parties have rejected such a suggestion.

They said their agitation will continue until their demands are met.

In such a situation, the confrontation between the king and the major parties is likely to deepen and further prolong Nepal's political crisis.