Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, Nepal’s king, on Wednesday appointed a new 10-member cabinet, comprising largely of his strongest supporters, a day after he sacked the government, declared a state of emergency and assumed power for at least three years.

Amid a Maoist insurgency which threatens to overwhelm the country, King Gyanendra on Tuesday announced his move in a rare broadcast on state-run television and radio, ending the Himalayan nation’s 15-year experiment with parliamentary democracy. Opposition politicians immediately denounced it as a coup.