Editing Kingdom of Nepal (section)

====Suspension of responsible government====
In the face of unstable governments and a Maoist siege on the Kathmandu Valley in August 2004, popular support for the monarchy began to wane. On 1 February 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and took to exercising his executive powers without ministerial advice, declaring a "[[state of emergency]]" to quash the Maoist movement. Politicians were placed under [[house arrest]], phone and internet lines were cut, and freedom of the press was severely curtailed.