Thankfully, all these problems present opportunites. -- An opportunity to start pressing hard to make the parties accountable to the interests DIVERSE slices of the Nepali population. -- An opportunity to curtail the excesses of the panchayati government. -- An opportunity to defang the Maoists and make them 'internal' (as opposed to external) to the democratic political process. How one does any one of the above well is beyond me at this point, though I have been thinking back and forth about various possible solutions. I have no answer at present. I am NOT persuaded to take sides by the simplistic chants of "I hate the king" or "I hate Girija" or "I hate the Maoists". oohi ashu