Nepal Prime Minister Quits Amid Sacking Protest

Nepal's first Maoist prime minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, resigned today after his coalition government lost its majority when two key allies pulled out in protest against his dismissal of the army chief.

In a televised address to the nation, Dahal said: "I have resigned from the post of prime minister."

Dahal's position had become untenable after the president, Ram Baran Yadav, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, opposed the sacking of the army chief General Rookmangud Katawal, describing it as "unconstitutional and illegal".

Yadav, who has ties with the opposition Nepali Congress, had written to the army chief, asking him not to relinquish command.

After being deserted by its major allies, Dahal's party, the Communist party of Nepal-Maoist, had tried overnight to garner fresh allies among the smaller parties in the national assembly. Dahal's resignation clearly indicates that the Maoists have failed to cobble together a new majority.

Dahal hit back at the president in his TV address, describing his actions as "an attack on this infant democracy and the peace process". He said Yadav's decision to back Katawal was "unconstitutional and undemocratic". "The interim constitution does not give any right to the president to act as a parallel power," he said.

After the king was deposed last year, Nepal has attempted to rewrite its constitution. There is as yet no clarity about the exact division of powers between the president and the prime minister, especially in relation to the armed forces.

After failing to attract new allies, the Maoists are expected to sit in the opposition in the national assembly.

Analysts believe the former guerrillas will not revert to armed revolution. Dahal's television address also gave enough indications of this. He was stepping down, the Maoist leader said, "for the protection of democracy and peace" in Nepal.

There were demonstrations in support and against the army chief's sacking in the capital, Kathmandu, yesterday and today, but no reports of widespread unrest. Top army commanders held an emergency meeting yesterday.

Katawal is a capable yet controversial officer with strong support within the army. Even though the royal family adopted Katawal, and he grew up in the palace, he did not oppose the move to abolish the monarchy. He became army chief despite doubts about his alleged role in a particularly brutal phase of the 10-year civil war between the Nepal army and the Maoist People's Liberation Army.

But the main cause of his tussle with Dahal is his resistance to inducting into the army more than 19,000 former Maoist guerrillas who are housed in camps run by the United Nations. Katawal has been taking recruits from elsewhere.