Chapter 4

Summary

As someone who had dealt with the Kings of Nepal since 1950, Koirala was not surprised by the royal takeover in 2005. By late twentieth century, the monarchy in Nepal was well-established, modeled on its counterparts in medieval Europe, and the struggle for democracy was marked by confrontation with the King.

In 1950, King Gyanendra's grandfather King Tribhuvan supported the ongoing democratic movement, which made the collapse of the repressive Rana regime possible without much bloodshed. Nonetheless, when the regime caved in, King Tribhuvan's intentions changed. Encouraged by his reactionary Rana relatives, he wanted to consolidate power for himself, by weakening the democratic parties. Since then this strategy has been adopted by successive monarchs. King Tribhuvan's successor, King Mahendra ruthlessly suppressed democratic forces throughout his entire reign. His policy was to divide the leftist and rightist (or centrist) democratic forces, in order to weaken the movement that challenged the palace authority. Even the benevolent and wise King Birendra was said to have a soft spot for the Maoist armed insurgency, which made it difficult for democratic forces to effectively confront their violence.

But in 2005 the King staged his takeover at the wrong time. The population was caught between the two armies of the State and the Maoists. For Koirala, King Gyanendra's takeover did not provide a solution but rather added to the already grave challenges facing the country because of the ongoing Maoist People's War.