True, Loots, budday boy :) It cant be written off in the future - nothing can. Politics is the art of the impossible and anything can happen. We could have a Royal coup or a Maoist one. Or an Indian backed one. We could even have a sufficiently functional democratic state I suppose. The trends today are against the Monarch and if the past is any indication, I dont see the trend reversing nationwide. I suppose it might in Kathmandu, whose elites have been much more pragmatic towards both the parties and the Monarch, but the republican train has left the station in Nepal and I think it will be extremely hard to stop it. At best the King can hope for a ceremonial Monarchy. At worst, he may have to start packing his bags soon. Will the military save him? That's the only scenario I see for a coup at this time and I dont think the Generals are willing to risk that much for him right now. Just my thoughts.