KIRAN PANDAY

The country heads into the holidays with politics in a coma till at least 19 October. There seems to be no end in sight to the ever-lasting elections for prime ministership, with no possibility of the NC's Ram Chandra Poudel retracting his candidacy and no possibility of him getting the required 301 votes.

After appearing to be flexible on a consensus government, Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal returned from a mysterious visit to Malaysia even more rigid in his demand that Poudel step down.

The budget is stuck, and development spending has ground to a halt. The Nepali people have never expected much from their governments, and are coping the best they can with inflation, worsening law and order and joblessness as they prepare for Dasain.

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In defence of the status quo, PUBLISHER'S NOTE