Nepal's King Gyanendra has sacked his prime minister and disbanded the cabinet for failing to hold elections on schedule.
The move comes a day after the Sher Bahadur Deuba asked the King to postpone November's elections by a year due to concerns about attacks by Maoist rebels.
It's the first time the monarch has fired an elected government and its leader since a multiparty political system replaced absolute monarchy in 1990.
The Maoist rebels, who have been fighting since 1996 to abolish Nepal's monarchy, had threatened to disrupt the elections.
They had also called a general strike to coincide with the first round of voting.
Guerrillas have intensified their attacks after the government lifted a state of emergency in August to allow free and open campaigning ahead of the elections.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in the six-year insurgency, which the rebels claim is inspired by Chinese revolutionary Mao Zedong.
PA