Let's get this straight. The political parties don't trust the king, and vice versa. The Maoists and the monarchy don't trust each other. The political parties also don't trust the Maoists, but issue broad threats that they will get into bed with them against the monarchy while in the same breath accuse the Maoists and the monarchy of being anti-democratic. Both the Maoists and the political parties treat the royal cabinet with contempt. Try to untangle that.

In this rigmarole, the political parties have got their student fronts to close the country down for days on end in a display of Bihar-style political stamina. It's a bit disingenuous for our politicos to refuse to take responsibility for the burning of libraries, museums and books at universities and colleges. Come on, they don't do that even in Darbhanga.

It is an even greater sign of moral bankruptcy to declare a bandh 'successful' just because the populace has been cowed down into shutting up shops by arsonists and window-smashers, to call factories, schools and bus companies to close down, or else. How is this any different to what the Maoists did? Now, every little rump faction can go around the city in a hailer-equipped three wheeler to declare a bandh whose \'success\' is preordained.

Is this country genetically programmed to self-destruct? Watching our monarchy descend into anarchy it certainly looks like it. The paradox here is that none of this needs to happen. Things were looking up after the ceasefire was declared. It showed conclusively that there is no military solution to this crisis, and it brought shaky, but genuine, hope among the people about the future.

This can translate into support for a restoration of the democratic process with an all-inclusive interim government to prepare the ground for local and parliamentary elections. On the road to that goal, there has to be an agreement about constitutional changes. So, where is the problem?

The only one we can see is that the various power centres can't agree on who gets powerful portfolios in the interim cabinet and are willing to jeopardise the peace process in order to get plum posts. Even if the main political parties were asked to decide on the composition of an interim cabinet, we all know what will happen: it will look at a pack of hyenas tearing up a kill. The king has seen that this prime minister is not going to deliver, he is looking for a replacement. But will his choice be acceptable to political parties who have declared Peoples\' Movement II from 4 May? The names of compromise candidates are being leaked. Surya Bahadur Thapa met the king and immediately air-dashed to New Delhi amidst an officially-inspired flurry of edits about the monarchy in the Indian media.

The ex-chief justice and a constitution framer Bishwanath Upadhyay said this week the political parties are like the river Ganges. "It contains raw sewage and rubbish, yet it is still a holy river." It\'s true, our political parties are septic tanks and most of their leaders are sleaze bags, but we are stuck with them. And we must believe in the peoples\' power to vote out the crooks and bring in a new crop of leaders. We have to reinstate the process that restores the peoples' right to chose their rulers. Otherwise they may want to go directly for constituent assembly elections to decide once and for all what to do with the monarchy.