Here we go again: pavements strewn with bricks, roads blocked off by burning tyres, colleges forced to close and chakka jams-scenes reminiscent of years of unstable coalition politics in the late 1990s. An informal poll of bemused bystanders on overhead bridges this week showed people taking the goings on below as further proof that the political parties are back to their old habits. The word on the streets is that the unpopularity of the king does not mean there is more trust in the parties, just as the lack of support for politicians doesn't mean people want an active king.

Desperate Nepalis need a sign that the parties have reinvented themselves as a credible alternative to both Maoist totalitarianism and absolute monarchy before they will come out spontaneously in support. Many still have serious misgivings about handing power back to the same people who abused it so grossly for so many years. And what they see on the streets doesn't give them much confidence that things will be different.

But there is a difference this time: the backlash against crackdowns on democracy is rapidly gathering a republican momentum. The tail is wagging the dog, and elderly politicians who have denied democracy within their own parties are seriously worried the youth-led agitation may spin out of control.

That should actually worry the royal regime even more. Some of the slogans on the campuses this week make 1990 look like a picnic. The king's shadowy advisers (yes, the same ones from 15 years ago) live within earshot of these demonstrations. They must by now be having a strong feeling of d?j? vu. Yet, they are stirring all the hornet nests on the tree at the same time: the students, the civil service, civil society, the political parties, the international community. They promised peace and democracy six months ago-we have neither. The royal regime seems to believe its own disinformation about 'no government in the world ever negotiating with terrorists' or 'nowhere in the world is news allowed on FM'.

Democracy was messy but that will pale into insignificance compared to the absolute anarchy we seem to be headed towards. The only force that can prevent us from falling from the frying pan into the fire is an accountable and remodelled political leadership that commands the moral authority to have the people on its side.