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…

Even though the Maoists had vowed to continue a blockade of the capital following an announcement by King Gyanendra that he would reinstate parliament, but it was obvious that they had jumped the gun and gone a step too far. They have since retracted that statement (I believe because they simply didn’t have the military…

People power wins democracy back for Nepal! Just before midnight yesterday, King Gyanendra went on national television and proclaimed to the entire country that he acknowledged the the power of both the political parties and the people, apologized for the death of fourteen protestors at the hands of security forces, and is reinstating immediately the…

King Gyanendra finally addressed the people. The result was less than miraculous. In it he promised to return executive power to the people and asked the Seven Party Alliance to name a new prime minister. Meanwhile, the current government would continue to function until that happens. Nothing about giving up his power. Nothing about restoring…

Nepal continues to be gripped by a national strike jointly called by the seven-party political alliance and the Maoist insurgency. People have been staying home from work and protesting in the streets, putting pressure on King Gyanendra to restore democracy in the country. So far, he has been unyielding. The political parties have called for…

It has been a week now since the united Seven Party Alliance, together with the Maoists, called for a nationwide strike. It’s still going strong. The crowds of demonstrators are growing and the country is finding it hard to function. The government especially. Protests are going into their eighth day with all segments of the…

The largest outcry for democracy since Nepal’s king seized power last February continues for the fifth straight day. A four-day nationwide strike and general protest was called to start on Thursday and end on Sunday jointly by the Seven Party Alliance and the Maoists, but because of its success and unheard of amount of support,…

The four-day nationwide strike called by the country’s seven main political parties and backed by the Maoist rebels began today, with the entire country practically shutting down. Hundreds of security personnel in riot gear stood guard in the near-empty streets of Kathmandu Thursday, to thwart mass protests planned by an alliance of seven opposition parties….

On Thursday Nepal will succumb to a four-day nationwide strike in protest of the King’s seizure of the government over a year ago. He has arrested thousands of people and hundreds of journalists for protesting and writing about the theft of civil liberties in the name of crushing the Maoist rebellion. But the King has…

Following the super-flawed municipal elections held last week, the Supreme Court in Nepal has decided that the Royal Commission for Corruption Control, setup by royal decree soon after King Gyanendra took power one year ago, is completely unconstitutional and all decisions made by it are annulled. This is a major blow to the King and…

Nepal is holding municipal elections today, the first vote for the people of the country in seven years. The King is heralding it as a step toward democracy in a country besieged by a Maoist insurgency. With any luck, the country will return to normal within good time and everyone will live happily ever after….

It was 364 days ago that King Gyanendra suspended democracy by sacking parliament and began a new war against Nepal’s civil society in the face of a Maoist insurrection. Since then, thousands of people protesting against the government have been arrested, from major politicians and journalists to the everyday man and woman. Just today, on…

Following last week’s crackdown by royalist security forces preceding planned pro-democracy protests, in which hundreds of pro-democracy politicians and activists were detained and communications were cut across the whole country, the situation in Nepal has deteriorated even further. Protests have been ongoing for the past four days, with standoffs between the demonstrators and police resulting…

It has been nearly a year since the King suspended democracy in the country and began his crackdown on the political opposition; which, at this point, is every political party in the country. Earlier this month, the King of Nepal reinstituted a ban on political rallies that had been lifted late last year. In response,…

Months after disbanding the parliament and initializing a state of emergency, the king of Nepal has promised elections. This is the part where we all laugh and snicker. Nepal’s royalist administration has repeated its commitment to restoring democracy in the country. But the announcement has been met with skepticism in Kathmandu. Nepalese Foreign Minister Ramesh…

The biggest argument I’ve made with regards to the political crisis in Nepal has been that the king’s taking of absolute power will drive the political parties and civil society into the arms of the Maoists, mostly because they are in opposition to the king. It isn’t that the pro-democracy parties agree with the Maoist…

I was afraid this might happen. By suspending parliament and taking absolute power, Nepal’s monarch has effectively isolated and turned civil society against him. Now, it seems that the seven main political parties from parliament, which represent some 95% of the population, will be staging joint protests with the Maoist rebels against the king. Not…

Over 3,000 people staged a sit-in protest in Kathmandu demanding an end to the monarchy and the restoration of parliamentary democracy. My blogosphere buddy Jim Hoft has a roundup. The protesters on Tuesday squatted in the street at Basantapur Durbar Square for several hours and disrupted traffic. Demonstrators included members of the Peace Society of…

Even though the King imposed a state of emergency in February that was constitutionally lifted three months later, he still retains his powers and Nepal’s democratic process is still suspended. Protests are still broken up, hundreds of political prisoners are still being held, and the media still isn’t allowed to operate freely. Why? The King…

Protestors demonstrated for the Prime Minister of Nepal who was removed from office following the King’s constitutional coup nearly half a year ago. When to police rushed in to break it up with batons, the protestors fought back with bricks. Not what I’d call a healthy situation. KATMANDU, Nepal (AP) – Police used batons to…