DHAKA, Nov 12: Nepal’s King Gyanendra sought on Saturday to win regional support for dismissing the government and taking power, saying security had improved under his rule.

King Gyanendra’s comments came at the summit of South Asian leaders in Bangladesh, and were seen as a fresh attempt by the monarch to gain legitimacy after his power seizure in February drew global condemnation.

“The Feb 1 step in Nepal was necessitated by ground realities, mainly the failure of successive governments to contain ever emboldening terrorists and maintain law and order,” the king said in a speech at the summit.

“It has not come at the cost of democracies as some tend to project,” he told leaders of the seven-nation South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).

“The security situation is slowly but surely improving and the people are benefitting by a growing sense of confidence. There is no place today in the kingdom where security personnel cannot go at will,” he said.

But security experts say there has been no let up in rebel violence and neither government forces nor the guerrillas are capable of winning the civil war, which has killed more than 12,500 people and ruined the poverty-stricken nation’s economy.

King Gyanendra, however, said the improvement in security had allowed the royalist government to announce municipal elections next year and parliamentary elections in 2007.

Nepal’s oldest political party, Nepali Congress, has decided to boycott national polls and seven major political parties, including the Nepali Congress, have also agreed to boycott municipal polls, saying free elections were not possible under the king.

On Friday, India had warned of failed states emerging in its neighbourhood, and analysts have said the reference could be to Nepal.

King Gyanendra, however, said: “Our friends and well wishers were warning of the danger of Nepal turning into a failed state.”

He added the situation now was much improved.

Analysts said King Gyanendra’s statement was unlikely to cut much ice, particularly with India, which is upset with the slow progress to restore democracy.—Reuters