The Nepal of March, the one of April, and the one of May are unrecognizable parallels of a place trying to make incremental transformations in three months that took the Western world centuries. It is hard to forget that just over a year ago, the country’s King seized absolute power by disbanding the government and ordering the military to put down all opposition to his rule. In April. however, this absolute power proved not so, as people power shook the streets of Kathmandu for three weeks, forcing the King to reinstate parliament and resign to the margins. The political leaders who organized the April Revolution promised peace and democracy.

Now, in May, a glimpse of that vision is coming to fruition. The Seven Party Alliance has shown that it can make the tough decisions, the ones that will bring about democracy. Prime Minister Koirala has said that the King will be stripped of most of his power, and that the last Hindu nation on earth will now become a secular state. Parliament will also be the sole lawmaking body of the land, with a constituent assembly being elected to redraw the constitutions.

One of the most interesting moves has been the arrest and detention of several ministers and persons involved in the security services in an attempt to seek justice for what the King did over the past 14 months. Such actions are extremely rare, if not impossible, in transitioning democracies due to backlash — usually from the military as the security services are the most targeted and oft the most guilty.

Yet the military has the monopoly on force and whoever controls it wields much power. As I argued when the King first ceded power, the most important thing the parliament can do now is to prevent such episodes from occurring again by bringing the military under civilian control. Currently, under Nepal’s constitution, the King is the Supreme Commander of the armed forces, which is what allowed him to seize power in the first place. Now, one of the first major moves the parliament is making against the King is putting control of the armed forces under its control.

The overwhelming mandate given to parliament by the people, combined with outright disgust with the King, has led to the formation of a transition government that is strong and actionable. Because of it, the new Nepal is taking shape in a quick enough way that we can actually see the difference day-by-day. The question is, what will June hold in store?