Lawmakers prepared Wednesday to declare Nepal the world's newest republic and bring an end to its centuries-old Hindu monarchy, as Nepalis rejoiced in the streets of the capital in anticipation of the announcement.
Across Katmandu, young men marched with red Maoist flags as residents young and old celebrated what many here see as the culmination of a two-year peace process with communist rebels that began after weeks of unrest forced King Gyanendra to restore democracy.
Near the convention center where Nepal's newly elected Constituent Assembly was expected to meet later Wednesday, thousands chanted "Long Live the Republic!" and denounced Gyanendra.
The king remained silent as it became apparent that his days as Nepal's monarch were numbered, and the country's leading politicians have in recent days threatened to remove him from the 1970s-era concrete palace by force if he refuses to go peacefully.
But in an apparent bid to defuse any potential standoff, the country's newly elected assembly will give the outgoing king 15 days to vacate his palace after the republic is declared, said Bimalendra Nidhi of the centrist Nepali Congress, the second largest party in the assembly.
Nidhi made the comments after his party met with the country's former rebels, the Maoists, who hold the most seats in the assembly and are expected to lead the country's new government.
There was no immediate reaction from the palace, which has rarely commented on political developments in Nepal since King Gyanendra was forced to end his royal dictatorship and restore democracy after widespread protests two years ago.
The Maoists then gave up their 10-year fight for a communist Nepal, and the election of the assembly in April marked the culmination of the peace process with the former insurgents.
The assembly is charged with governing Nepal as it rewrites the constitution. On Tuesday, 575 of its members were sworn in.
Another 26 members are to be appointed, and last-minute talks between the political parties on filling those seats and how much power to give to the newly created presidency forced the assembly to postpone its first meeting until late Wednesday afternoon.
When the assembly does finally meet, the political parties have made it clear that their first act will be to declare Nepal a republic and do away with the 239-year-old Shah dynasty, which united Nepal and has reigned ever since.
But getting rid of the Shah dynasty is in many ways the least of the new government's problems, as evidenced by a string of bombings that hit Katmandu on Monday and Tuesday, all apparently aimed at pro-republic politicians and activists.
While the four bombings only wounded two people, they underscored how difficult it will be to fashion lasting peace and bring widespread prosperity to this Himalayan land that was bled for a decade by the Maoist insurgency and is still regularly bloodied by political violence.
Authorities have deployed 10,000 policemen in Katmandu to head off more violence and banned rallies around the palace and the convention center where the assembly is meeting.
The Maoists, meanwhile, say 20,000 volunteers from their youth wing are in Katmandu to help control the celebrations. But that hasn't eased fears of violence. The young Maoists regularly are accused of intimidating, roughing up and sometimes killing opponents.
The Maoists have promised to bring sweeping change to Nepal, a largely impoverished country that in many places more closely resembles medieval Europe than a modern nation.
Once Nepal has been declared a republic no one is certain what will happen, with the Maoists still struggling to form a government and political violence persisting.
If Gyanendra peacefully leaves the palace for good, he is expected to move to the palatial private Katmandu home where he lived before assuming the throne in 2001 following a massacre at the royal palace in which a gunman, allegedly the crown prince, gunned down late King Birendra and much of the royal family before killing himself.
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Associated Press Writer Matthew Rosenberg contributed to this story.
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