December 16, 2002	Monday	Shawwal 11, 1423

KATHMANDU, Dec 15: A massive protest rally marched through Nepal’s capital city on Sunday, denouncing what protesters said was the unconstitutional dismissal of Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba by King Gyanendra two months ago.

“The king can’t fire a prime minister nor can he appoint a government on his own. He must correct his mistake,” said Madhav Kumar Nepal, general secretary of the Communist Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML) party that organised the rally.

King Gyanendra named Lokendra Bahadur Chand as interim prime minister after dismissing Deuba in October for seeking to delay general elections, triggering a political crisis in the world’s only Hindu kingdom which is battling an increasingly violent Maoist revolt aimed at toppling the constitutional monarchy.

Sunday’s protest was the biggest ever held by political groups since the move.

“There is still time for the king to correct his mistake or else face a decisive struggle,” Nepal told thousands of his supporters assembled less than a kilometre away from the king’s palace. He did not elaborate.

Bloody street protests ended decades of monarchy in the mountainous nation in 1990.—Reuters