Nepal PM says king should abdicate

In a dramatic turnaround in his position on Nepal's monarchy, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala said yesterday that King Gyanendra should abdicate now instead of waiting for the outcome of a vote on his future.

Koirala, a veteran politician who heads an interim government in the run-up to elections to a constituent assembly, has been among the few mainstream leaders in favor of retaining the unpopular monarchy in some form, possibly ceremonial.

But with demands growing to declare Nepal a republic, Koirala said the king's stepping down would help in a smooth transition to a new and permanent political set up in the embattled Himalayan nation.