A high-level source has revealed that there will be a major reshuffle next week in the council of ministers chaired by His Majesty. King Gyanendra is said to be dissatisfied with the performance of the council in implementing the 21-point agenda he had given them on appointment. There is also a feeling that some ministers have not been able to forcefully counter criticism of His Majesty by the main political parties and to win the confidence of the public. "His Majesty would like the forthcoming municipal elections to reflect his desire for it to be pro-people but there seems to be a shortage of people in the council who can adequately communicate His Majesty's wishes," the source said.

He added that the two vice-chairmen, Tulsi Giri and Kirtinidhi Bista, and seven cabinet rank ministers would be retained. The new faces would be "competent and with public credibility" and be picked from the RPP, Nepali Congress, communist parties or of independent backgrounds. The total number of ministers would not exceed 24 and they would form the core of a new alternative nationalist democratic political force to be set up in the next two-and-a-half years. The source told Rajdhani that many of the current ministers came from non-political backgrounds and had failed to be effective, and added: "Don't even think that His Majesty will give up heading the government. Given the crisis in the country there is no way the splintered parties can handle it. His Majesty's wish is just to conduct elections to a new parliament and hand over the government to the people's representatives."