As Sher Bahadur Deuba becomes prime minister for the third time, it is difficult to say which square Nepal is back on.

Is it 1960? 1980? July 2001, his first tenure? October Third 2002, the day before he was sacked? Or 7 May 2004, when Surya Bahadur Thapa resigned?

When Deuba became prime minister the last time in July 2001, we wrote in this space that he should not expect a honeymoon period and must learn from his previous tenure. He didn't, and went on to disband local bodies, dissolve parliament, surround himself with crooks and announce elections he couldn't hold.

We have reproduced the editorial page cartoon from the edition of 27 July 2001, the week Deuba assumed office. It is eerily prescient today. Not much has really changed: the war has become worse, 5,000 more Nepalis were killed, the country is in a deeper crisis. And we have lost two valuable years as the palace and the parties squabbled unnecessarily for power.

Then, the Maoists had greeted Deuba's assumption of office by slaughtering 17 policemen in Bajura before announcing a truce. The ceasefire and talks lasted four months before the rebels attacked the Ghorahi barracks and dragged the Royal Nepali Army into the war, seriously escalating it.

King Gyanendra has swallowed his pride to reinstate a prime minister he sacked two years ago for incompetence. Deuba and the king gave each other a face-saving way out of a political deadlock that has paralysed the country for two years. The parties must now look beyond their insistence on process and help Deuba tackle the nation's larger crises.

His challenge is much greater this time. If he couldn't resolve the Maoist crisis then, how is he going to do it now? If he had to postpone elections last time, how is he going to hold it within the 10- month royal deadline? How is he going to get the government working? Restart development? Can he keep the crooks out this time?

Deuba has a few things going for him: he is well-meaning and down-to-earth. He has fought and suffered for democracy, and this LSE fellow has a wife who coaches him on development. He has also served in the high-power committee set up by his mentor, KP Bhattarai, in 2000 to solve the Maoist crisis.

But before he gets down to any of this, Deuba needs to build a minimum consensus among the parliamentary parties so they are all rowing in the same direction.