Everyone may have wished the summit talks between the SPA-led government and the Maoists that began on Sunday would succeed, but few actually believed they would. Fewer still could have thought that there would be a break on Monday. The proposal came from Pushpa Dahal himself, but was meant satirically, as he suggested that the SPA needed a break to consult with foreign powers and the palace.

On Sunday, after saying his piece, the prime minister went to bed, complaining of tiredness. NC (D) chairman Sher Bahadur Deuba kept going out and coming in and talking on his cell phone. When asked for his opinion Debua just said, "Whatever Girjababu says we feel the same."

It looked as if the two Congresses were on the same side, and opposed to the other parties. The Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, and the left fronts complained that the Congress and the CPN-UML were paying too much attention to royalists and others who had no role in the people's movements and sidelining those who had contributed to it.