What are the most important issues facing the nation today?
(% of respondents, multiple choise)

Public opinion polls are useful only when political forces heed them. Sadly, our elected national leaders have stopped caring about what the people think. And on the other side, the Maoists, in their revolutionary zeal, are so convinced that they have all the answers, they don't need public opinion. In fact, their punishment for disagreeing is physical elimination.

And yet, the results of the public opinion poll we publish in this issue remind us that our rulers and those who aspire to rule ignore public opinion at their own peril. The Nepali people know that the leaders they voted for have squandered their mandate, but they don't agree with the Maoists: neither with their brutal methods nor their ultimate goal.

Disapproval of the decisions taken by the Deuba government are glaringly evident. More than three-quarters of those polled said that the term of local bodies should either have been extended or fresh elections held. More than half didn't agree with the way elections
were called.

There are other revelations. This is the first public opinion poll taken since the royal massacre, and we see that less than 1% of those polled see absolute monarchy as a reliable solution to the Maoist problem. And despite the nostalgia in Kathmandu Valley for strongman rule, the people blame the failure of politicians, and not the breakdown of the system, for the country's problems.

The message from the people is clear: they want all political parties, the king, the security forces and even the Maoists to work together to get this country back on track. If that is unrealistic, then there should at least be a coalition among those who believe in parliamentary democracy. The people want such a force to emerge out of this chaos.