Nepali opposition parties planned nationwide protests yesterday, a day after the caretaker prime minister quit, to maintain pressure on the king to appoint them to an interim government of national unity.
Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand resigned on Friday to help ease the pressure on King Gyanendra, but the move also brought more fresh political uncertainty to the troubled Himalayan nation and cast a shadow over peace talks with Maoist rebels.
"Our protest program will continue until our demands are met," the Nepali Congress Party spokesman Arjun Narsingh K.C. said.
Congress is one of five parties which have led protests since Gyanendra appointed Chand, widely seen as the king's man, in October after assuming executive powers and sacking his predecessor in a row over the timing of national elections.
Gyanendra, catapulted to the throne after the 2001 palace massacre, met leaders of the five parties, plus two others, on Friday night and some media reports said he had given them 72 hours to propose a candidate for prime minister.
The five parties have brought thousands of Nepalis on to the streets in sometimes violent rallies to press the king to either appoint them as an interim government or reinstate the parliament he dissolved in May last year.
Last week, as the world media spotlight focused on Nepal for celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the scaling of Mount Everest, at least 20 people, including ousted lawmakers, were injured when police broke up a rally in Kathmandu.
Newspapers yesterday welcomed the departure of Chand, Nepal's 12th prime minister since 1990, as opening the way for forging a national consensus.
"Lokendra Bahadur Chand may have been an insignificant political personality, but his departure will be far more significant politically," The Kathmandu Post said in its editorial.
"The growing rift between the king and political parties had caused immense concern over the future of multiparty democracy in the country as many feared that the king was ruling by proxy."
But Maoist rebels who have begun halting peace talks with the government to end a rebellion that has killed 7,200 people in seven years, said Chand's resignation would delay the process.
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