KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Hundreds of thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators took to the streets of the capital yesterday to claim victory on the morning after King Gyanendra announced he would recall parliament.

The celebrations came on a day when the alliance of the seven main democratic parties announced their choice for interim prime minister. Political maneuvering between politicans and Maoists were not without an understanding that it was the people who took tothe streets who had the power.
T hose who took to the streets were at pains to remind the politicians that Nepal's mostly nonviolent uprising had been driven by the people.

In the morning, party leaders gathered at the secluded home of the man they quickly decided to nominate as the next prime minister, Nepali Congress Party leader Girija Prasad Koirala. In a narrow alleyway outside the house were dozens of young men and women and, each time a party leader emerged from the front yard, the crowd surrounded them.

"Be warned," many shouted at politicians who in the past have proved corrupt and inept. "You leaders, be warned."

The nature of the warning was clear: Bring about a constitutional assembly or face mass protests again. A rewritten constitution could result in the abolition of the monarchy.

In the streets of Kathmandu, massive crowds formed numerous rallies. Even though there was jubilance at the king's about-face on parliament there was no let-up in widespread yearning to get rid of him altogether.

"Gyanendra, don't leave Nepal before you are held to account," one group chanted.

"He has time and again betrayed the people," said Narayan Sharma, 29, a student. "He can't stay at all."

The State Department urged the king to assume "a ceremonial role in his country's governance," but it remains to be seen whether the majority of Nepalis will tolerate his remaining even as a constitutional figurehead.

In downtown Kathmandu, an area until now out of bounds to demonstrators, large metal signs proclaiming the bland, absurd banalities of the king have loomed over passersby for years. Yesterday, they took a hammering.

"We are committed to a multiparty democracy," read one saying of the man who seized absolute power in February 2005. Young men climbed onto the sign and kicked and twisted and hammered until it came off. The crowd roared.

"I wish no Nepali to die of hunger and that they enjoy social, economic and political rights," read another sign -- a statement from the king who reigns over this poverty-stricken nation while living in luxury. A young man took a pot of black paint and brushed over Gyanendra's name, then over an image of his crown and finally over the words "His Majesty's Government."

Then the demolition crew got to work again and down came the sign.

Another four suffered the same fate as rows of police watched passively from a distance, perhaps wondering who their ultimate boss was now.