With only a week to go for elections, those who have the most to lose seem to be getting frantic.

Ultra-royalists have threatened more bombs to provoke communal violence. But whatever they are planning, the nation is committed to elections and it's all systems go for 10 April.

The Maoists are also getting nervous that the defeat of some of its top leaders would be hard to stomach for its hardline cadre. The escalation in attacks by the Maoists against NC and UML candidates in the past month followed failure of talks between the Big Three to secretly distribute seats among themselves.

The violence continued this week and appears to be part of the Maoist bargaining tactic. They want guarantees that no less than 20 of their top leaders be allowed to win from at least one constituency each. Prime Minister Koirala reportedly has said he can fix that. But the UML's Madhab Kumar Nepal is under pressure from his own party not to give in to the Maoists.

One source told us the Maoists are using their tried and tested method of threatening to resign from the government and boycott elections if they aren't assured a minimum electoral win by Friday evening. Privately, Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal has told other leaders it will be difficult to control his cadre if there is a rout. Publicly, however, Maoist leaders deny there is any deal. Baburam Bhattarai reportedly told the UML his party doesn't need "charity" from them.

A deal may not be democratic, but most analysts say the Maoists may need to be accommodated for the sake of their party unity and long-term peace. They are more worried about violence against candidates, and the Maoist strategy of intimidating voters in constituencies where they are weak so there is a low turnout.

Across the country the Maoists have been telling voters they have special gadgets to find out who they vote for, or they have threatened entire VDCs with punishment if they let another party win.

The challenge for the hundreds of elections observers, including Jimmy Carter who arrives next week, is to focus not just on polling day but the impact of voter intimidation during the campaign.