A Lot Of Good Got Done During The 1990s

The official line of the junta is that the 1990s were a circus, and so the king was forced to take over. The facts show otherwise.

Nepal Democracy Network: Did Democracy Fail in Nepal?

..... several socio-economic indicators show that more infrastructure developed than the past thirty years combined ...... the road network increased from 6840 Kilometers in 1990 to 13, 233 Kilometers in 2001 ..... In the last ten years alone the per capita income of Nepalese people has almost doubled, the poverty rate has fallen below 30 percent, more people, about 91 percent, now have easy access to education, and more than 37 percent now enjoy electricity up from 14 percent a decade ago. Roads and potable water continued to reach more households. During the decade of democracy there was a huge growth in communications sectors. From only one state-owned Television, Radio and daily newspaper we have now at least five Nepali language televisions, tons of radio stations, many community controlled FM stations and a plethora of daily newspapers both in Nepali, English and local languages...... Non-profit and non- governmental organizations sprang up abundantly. Human rights groups, child rights organization formed; associations for ethnic and women rights were established all over the country. Under the substantial pressures from these organizations, government announced social programs such as equal property rights from women and freeing of Kamaiyas from life long bondage. Such developments are considered significant progress by any standards, and even more impressive is that they occurred in a decade.

The point being compare the 10 years of semi-democracy to 250 years of monarchy. The facts speak for themselves.

The problem in the 1990s was too little democracy, not too much.

And I just found a pretty neat article on the monarchy at the CPNM site.

Relevance of Monarchy in Nepal

Some Misconceptions About the Monarchy ...... The first popular misconception, particularly among the international community, is that the monarchy is the principle factor of stability in the country. ..... The second widespread misconception is that the monarchy is the symbol of unity in diversity and in the absence of monarchy the country would not be able to sustain its unity...... The third misconception, particularly among Hindu religious zealots in India, is that since Nepal is the only Hindu kingdom in the world the monarchy there deserves to be preserved for ever...... The fourth misconception, particularly among the international ‘aid’ communities, is that without the patronizing hand of a monarchy Nepal won’t be able to embark on the path of rapid economic development....... The fifth misconception, particularly among the parliamentary democratic forces, is that the monarchy may not be abolished but just brought down to size to a ‘constitutional monarchy’. ..... If the two sides can shed off the past baggage and clinch an historic unity on a common minimum programme, the overthrow of the monarchy and institutionalization of the democratic republic is a distinct possibility in the near future.

In The News

• Deuba thanks international community for his release:New Kerala, India
• Deuba for all-party govtHimalayan Times, Nepal
• Former Nepali PM seeks world pressureGlobe and Mail, Canada
• King must surrender power before talks start: DeubaKeralanext, India
• ''Sacking the Government Brings International Attention to Nepal''PINR