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Now that the parliament has been declared supreme, and it has taken the far-reaching historic decision to find a way to accommodate a figurehead king we must start looking beyond dismantling to building. If we don't, we'll forever be stuck in this rut of retribution and counter-retribution.
Parliament's Magna Carta for Nepal is nothing less than revolutionary. But it is also accommodative. By giving the monarchy a last chance it has shown considerable courage in standing up to the republican wave that swept the country during the April uprising. By doing so, it is leaving the final decision to the fate of the monarchy to the people.
The decisive and radical measure to bring royal successions under purview of the people's representatives was actually the only decision that was really necessary. The rest (removing 'Royal' and 'Shri Panch', appointment of the COAS, parliament's state affairs committee to over see the royal palace) were just details. The other decision we applaud is the one to declare Nepal a secular state.
The seven party alliance has saved the institution of monarchy by a slender thread. We hope the king and his absolutist and fundamentalist cohorts have got the message. If not, he should look hard at this accompanying picture of protesters atop the statue of the founder of his dynasty on Thursday. In the end, it was the moderate middle-path of the parliamentary democracy that rescued the institution whose current stakeholder was bent on destroying it.
Rather than gloating or baying for more blood, it is now time to stop dwelling in the past and start building a new Nepal. The special resolution of parliament on Thursday lays the groundwork for this to happen. We must now work towards making this transitional stage of constitutional limbo as short as possible. That way we can resolve the political and legal questions once and for all so the nation can finally turn its attention to socio-economic progress.
