Despite Nepal's incredible hardships, and the misery that we the people have been subjected to because of decades of bad governance, what never ceases to amaze me is our patience and wisdom. On this new year, 2060, I salute all fellow-Nepalis. The respondents of the Himalmedia public opinion poll you published ('2060', #140) speaks for all of us. The people have spoken, and they have told our rulers to get on with it. The message to the Maoists is that their goals may be correct, but they are going about it in the wrong way. They have told the king to be careful with getting too involved with day-to-day politics, and they have virtually rejected the political parties. But the greatest lesson of all is that democracy has now taken root in Nepal, and the people cherish their political freedom. The political parties better listen to this, and help the king with his peace process so that an interim government can announce elections as soon as possible. By dithering and fomenting street unrest, the parties are just helping the extremists of the left and right.

GB Thapa,
Hong Kong

. imalmedia deserves praise for its annual public opinion polls. It shows that the sanity that is missing among the political forces is still manifested in abundance among the Nepali people. Thank you for listening to what we have to say about these greedy, power-hungry people who are trying to lord over us in our name.

Naresh Sharma,
email