WORLD : King Asks Opposition Leader to Be Interim Nepal Prime Minister

King Birendra today bowed to a groundswell for further democratic reform and asked a veteran opposition leader to be prime minister of an interim government, the opposition party announced.

Earlier today, Birendra announced the resignation of Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand and the dissolution of the no-party legislature.

The developments ended a week of political deadlock that ensued after the king yielded on April 8 to demands that a 29-year-old ban on political parties be lifted.

Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, the prime minister-designate and acting president of the long-banned Nepali Congress Party, said he will present a Cabinet on Tuesday.

Bhattarai also said King Birendra indicated during a meeting today with opposition leaders that he will look favorably upon the idea of becoming a constitutional monarch, foresaking the near-absolute power he has wielded for his 18 years on the throne.

Also today, a youth gang set fire to a movie theater ticket office and stoned another empty cinema, prompting the capital’s four other theaters to close. It is not known why the gang targeted the movie theaters, located 500 yards from the royal palace.