'Nepal committed to free, fair elections'

Last month, Thapa promised to hold polls around November in the Himalayan kingdom following successful nationwide student union elections.

"We're preparing for a free and fair general elections to elect the people's representatives in the parliament," Thapa told AFP in an interview.

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His comments came as Nepal's Maoist leaders Saturday urged all "leftists, nationalists and parliamentary forces" to unite to topple the monarchy and set up a republic.

Nepal has been rocked by months of student and opposition party protests against King Gyanendra's October 2002 dismissal of the elected government that has created a constitutional limbo.

Gyanendra said the elected government was not competent to tackle the revolt by the Maoists, who have been battling since 1996 to establish a communist republic in a conflict that has claimed over 9,000 lives.

The king assumed executive powers himself and installed a prime minister from the royalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party to lead the government.

Many student demonstrators have also been calling for the establishment of a republic in the Hindu kingdom. Such calls would have been unimaginable a few years ago in the country where many citizens still regard the king as an incarnation of the god Vishnu, the protector.

Thapa gave no date for when elections would be held. But he said the king had made "public commitments twice recently on holding the elections in the country at the earliest possible opportunity."

He added he was "holding dialogues with different party leaders for their cooperation to hold the elections so the parliamentary system of government which has been in a long vacuum can be resumed."