Kathmandu: Nepal's political parties on October 5 slammed King Gyanendra's sacking of caretaker Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba as un-Constitutional and called emergency meetings to discuss the move.

King Gyanendra dismissed Deuba and the Cabinet on October 4 night, declaring he would temporarily take executive power and suspend national elections scheduled for November.

In his national speech, Gyanendra described Deuba as "incompetent" and said that the new caretaker Prime Minister would have a "clean image".

Gyanendra, a Constitutional monarch whose role is supposedly largely ceremonial, said that he would take political power until he nominated a new Prime Minister in five days time. He did not give a time frame for new polls.

Deuba expressed surprise at the monarch's shock move. "As far as I have understood, the King cannot remove me as per the Constitution," he said.

"I wanted elections. I had decided to postpone elections because everybody requested me to do so. That is why I decided to defer elections as per the Constitution and according to the wishes of all the political parties," he said.

Deuba's sacking comes after he met Gyanendra on October 3 to request the elections be postponed for one year because of the Maoist rebellion that has claimed more than 3,000 lives during the past 12 months.

"The King has created a political vacuum by sacking the Prime Minister," Lilamani Pokharel, People's Front Nepal leader said.

"The Constitution has not given the mandate to the King to sack the Prime Minister and he has not worked as per the norms of the country's Constitution and achievement of the 1990 people's movement," he said.

"The King has assaulted the multi-party system and his action would not help to solve the country's current political turmoil," he said.

In 1990 a multi-party movement succeeded in overthrowing the 30-year partyless system of autocratic rule and Democracy was re-established.

"The King's action is a matter of anxiety and this step has weakened Democracy in Nepal," said Sushil Koirala, general secretary of the Nepali Congress, the Himalayan kingdom's main party.

"A Constitutional monarch should solve the problems of the country by remaining within the Constitution," Koirala said.

One of Nepal's most respected lawyers also condemned the move.

Former president of All Nepal Bar Association and senior lawyer Harihar Dahal said, "The King's action is beyond the rights of a Constitutional monarch."

All Nepal's political parties were on October 5 holding emergency meetings to discuss the King's move, party sources said.

Gyanendra said that the new Prime Minister would prepare the nation for the new elections, but would not be able to stand in them.

The Constitutional crisis began in May when Gyanendra, on Deuba's advice, dissolved Parliament and brought forward the elections to November, two years ahead of schedule.

The decision backfired with strong resistance from Opposition parties, who said that elections could not be held freely and fairly because the Maoist rebels had vowed to disrupt them.

Deuba and his Cabinet had second thoughts and asked this week for the election to be delayed until November 19, 2003.

According to Nepal's Constitution, elections must be held within six months of the dissolution of Parliament, but the developments on October 4 have thrown into serious doubt whether that requirement will be met.