Much as the 6+1 parties would have liked to remove the monarchy as a campaign issue in April's elections by getting the interim constitution to declare Nepal a republic on paper, it refuses to go away.

And they have no one to blame but themselves. It is the party leaders who keep on raking up the monarchy, accusing each other of being closet royalists.

With only two months to go to polls, Sujata Koirala is zeroing in on a chunk of voters who want to keep a symbolic monarchy. And so is diehard republican Pushpa Kamal Dahal who is busy building rapprochement with royals. Both are competing for the block vote of moderate monarchists.

We don't know exactly what proportion of the people want a monarchy, but the most recent public opinion poll (see page 1) puts it at 49 percent. King Gyanendra has also seen that figure, and has been giving interviews to say the people should decide on the monarchy and not the parties.

He still doesn't get it. Nepalis have always made a distinction between the institution of monarchy and the persona of the king. Half the people may want the monarchy, but few want Gyanendra or his son on the throne. The big challenge will be to reconcile the people's sizeable support for a symbolic crown and their rejection of the incumbent.

One solution would be to do what Prince Norodom Ranariddh did after his father made his half-brother king in Cambodia: he formed his own political party and named it after himself. The royalist Norodom Ranariddh Party is now the third strongest party. Who knows, Gyanendra could also one day be more influential as a political kingmaker than as king.

The argument of monarchists is that Nepal needs the king as a symbol of national unity. But the monarchy is looking more and more like a divisive force. Many undecided voters on 10 April may think the monarchy is just not worth the trouble to keep and regard a continued kingship as actually jeopardising the peace process.

The only thing going for the king now is the fecklessness of the political parties, and the hope that the seven party alliance will disintegrate. That is why it is more important than ever for the parties to see the elections not as a zero-sum game. If the elections are held properly, there will be no losers. We will all be winners.