For three years, since first visiting Nepal in 2003, I worked to stop US aid to Narayanhiti. With the Nepali diaspora, we campaigned in Washington DC on human rights, started a website, lobbied the US Congress, organised forums, worked with the media, and protested in front of the White House. I say this to hopefully get your 'okay' in allowing yet another arrogant foreigner to talk. Come up with a plan B, that is.

Don't expect the UN to tell you that the peace process is failing. There are jobs, and a world reputation to keep. But it is no small matter that UNMIN's second phase of arms/ armies registration and verification has been 'delayed.' Neither is the lack of political will in parliament to pass basic legislation that would have perhaps enabled the elections to the constituent assembly.

It is clear that the same issues underlying the conflict permeated into the peace process. The tarai uprising changed the power equation and also highlighted the need to democratise the peace process so all marginalised communities can feel ownership of it.

The lack of inclusion is felt across the board. Within the NC, the Koirala dynasty still kicks. It's business as usual that Prime Minister Koirala took his daughter Sujata, and not his foreign minister to meet Sonia Gandhi at the SAARC summit last month. Or that the party district presidents' meeting wasn't able to ask for more than "clarity on the monarchy". The UML isn't much better. Despite the lack of consensus within the party, Madhab Nepal does not seem bothered by an un-elected, un-representative parliament deciding the fate of the monarchy.
Why do the leaders feel so empowered to speak on behalf of the people? Ironically, though most Nepalis tend to associate with one political party or another, those very parties are generally dismissed as corrupt and irrelevant. Why not make them accountable instead?

The Maoists have never bragged about their love for democracy, but they have lied about their 'commitment' to the poor, and to their own cadre. In the countryside, they have replaced the semi-feudal system with yet another system of fear and exploitation: their own. But they should at least be loyal to their own supporters, and stop using the inhuman conditions in the camps as a bargaining chip. And please, send the kids home.

Without acknowledgment, punishment, and compensation (truth, justice, reparations) for crimes committed, insecurity will remain. After the war in Guatemala, vast impunity led to the mushrooming of gang activity. That's where the YCL is going. If not them, who is next? Impunity is rampant here, and blatant. Maoist leader and Minister Matrika Yadav recently said: "all prisoners must be granted general amnesty in the wake of a new Nepal." No one has ever been prosecuted for war crimes or crimes against humanity in a court of law in Nepal or elsewhere. Deals have been made to keep it that way, as is clear in the secrecy surrounding the Rayamajhi report. Violators didn't just walk away unpunished, they were rewarded with positions of power.

In Latin America we'd never dismiss airily the forces controlling an army. And as democracy day in Dakshinkali pointed out-with the army's 21-gun salute, band, and fanfare for the king-you shouldn't either.

In addition, there are new advisories for US citizens travelling to Nepal. The CPN-M is still on its list of terrorist organisations. And that's a legal basis for Washington to funnel money to the king's allies again.

I advocated against US aid to the palace-military and otherwise-because I was encouraged by the Nepali people's determination to shape their own future. Now, again, there are serious issues to address. The Nepali people must come up with a plan B: make human rights a priority, democratise, educate, mobilise. Continue to inspire people all over as you did with the Jana Andolan.

Chilean Daniela Ponce conducted her graduate research on the role of student movements in Nepal. She was most recently with the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington DC.