Spring Is Nigh In Nepal

It turned out that the chairman had no plan, no strategy; only a hankering for absolute power not sanctioned by the 1990 Constitution, a document that reserved sovereignty for the people. Before long, it also became apparent that the chairman was not a capable administrator, nor a political leader. All of this would have been merely poignant had the royal takeover not added immeasurably to the miseries of 26 million citizens.

On Wednesday, February 1, 2006, the chairman gave a televised address to the nation. Using the royal 'we', he misrepresented the national condition before the citizens—claiming that the insurgency was weakened (even as gunfire resounded across the hills), that there was fiscal discipline and decentralisation (as he centralised power in his hands and did away with the need for national audits), that corruption was down, and that Nepal's prestige was rescued. He reiterated his commitment to multi-party democracy, even as he herded hundreds of national and district-level politicians and civil society leaders into detention.