Six months ago King Gyanendra took full responsibility for restoring peace. The onus is still very much on him, but public opinion is turning. Even the cheers are turning to jeers.

The only accomplishment of February First that we can discern is the irreversible dent on the reputation of the monarchy. We don't need a republican movement in this country-the palace is doing pretty well by itself.

This rapid radicalisation of citizens has created a 'red shift' in Nepal's political spectrum: former friends of monarchy have turned diehard republican, constitutional monarchists now want a ceremonial king to grace jatras, and proponents of active monarchy warn there is still time for the king to settle for a constitutional role. The Maoists didn't do this, the king did it to himself.

The rebels have played their cards well so far. The strategy of creating a rift between and within constitutional forces-the king, NC, UML, media and the civil society-has worked. And none of them seem to realise that by fighting each other they are helping the Maoists consolidate.

But the strategy of divide-and-dominate can take the comrades only so far. The dogmatism of the dominant hardliners in the Maoist leadership has succeeded in alienating just about everyone including its silent sympathisers.

This war never served any purpose. In Pili all the Maoists did was overrun a road construction gang and delay by a few months construction of a highway that would have benefited ordinary people in Nepal's poorest region. How was that a victory?

The dispute about malfunctioning Indian rifles is just a distraction: the army says the gun isn't slaughtering as many Nepalis as the manual said it would. Besides trying to mask its own intelligence failure, the army just shot itself in the foot with this ill-timed allegation by angering its main arms supplier.

In all this, the only force that doesn't owe its power to the barrel of a gun and can speak for Nepalis who want nothing to do with this war, are the political parties. Warts and all.

There is little point choosing between a Maoist-palace or Maoist-party alliance, either way the two will gang up against the third force and keep fighting. No, the time has come for a tripartite summit between the king, Maoists and parties. Only that will convince the people that the three forces now understand the gravity of the crisis of their own making.

Time is running out and the king has to start somewhere. How about showing magnanimity by declaring a unilateral indefinite ceasefire leading to an all-party conclave. It will not be seen as weakness, but a sign of courage and statesmanship.