History really repeats: The period between 1951-1959 passed with uncertainty as the King did not comply with his promise of holding elections for the constituent assembly. Finally, only under pressure from the parties, King Mahendra (son of King Tribhuvan) declared elections for the parliament in 1959. The Nepali Congress surprisingly won a majority of the seats in the new parliament. This led the King to fear he would be reduced to a ceremonial role and thus, on December 15, 1960 declared foreign politics were not for him and had the Nepali Congress put under arrest. He would have direct rule. Two years later, he started the panchayat system. The local five-man panchayat would send representatives to the district which would send others to the national panchayat. But this body had few real powers. Under the "Panchayat Democracy" # no political parties were allowed # human rights were denied # corruption was rampant # state money was misused # economic development did not take place # "nationalist" slogans were given, but no improvement in the day-to-day life of the people was realized