The king also invited the seven-party alliance to nominate a prime minister and the council of ministers under Article 35 which in effect means activating the 1991 constitution almost after a gap of 32 months. That deprives the king of the right to dismiss the cabinet on one pretext or another—an exercise he has been repeating since October 2002.

King Gyanendra’s declaration comes a day after he met Karan Singh, a special envoy of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, with a warning that his failure to abdicate in favour of the democratic forces would only invite his downfall fast.

In a nationally televised address, the king also announced that sovereign authority remained with the people and not with the king as sought to be projected during the royal regime. Political parties and the pro-democracy crowds across the country, however, said that the royal proclamation was something that could not be trusted and nothing short of an election to the constituent assembly would satisfy them.

The seven-party alliance is expected to formulate a collective response to the king’s offer, and the international community is in favour of the parties positively taking it.

India welcomed the ‘‘king’s intention to hand over the power to the political parties.’’

The king, who was expected to make the announcement in the morning, delayed it by a few hours apparently seeking some sort of guarantee from the international community which had supported the pro-democracy movement for his continuation as the ‘constitutional monarch’.

Indian ambassador Shiv Shankar Mukherjee’s meeting with the king today—the third in the past six days—is believed to have helped assuage the king’s fears. The US and the UK later declared their support for the Indian initiative in easing the situation in Nepal.

As he stood up to deliver the speech, he betrayed no emotion or feelings for those who died during the past few days of pro-democracy movement but profusely thanked those who stood by him during his rule.

He reiterated his unflinching commitment to constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy, adding ‘‘we, through this proclamation, affirm that the executive power of the Kingdom of Nepal, which was in our safekeeping, shall, from this day, be returned to the people and be exercised in accordance with Article 35 of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1990.’’

‘‘We, therefore, call upon the seven-party alliance to recommend a name for the post of prime minister at the earliest for the constitution of the Council of Ministers which will bear the responsibility of governing the country in accordance with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal-1990,’’ he said.