Captain wrote: "Fairness is a subjective term and the US elections, if ranked with other elections held that year, were probably one of the fairest in the world, in my opinion. I do wish the outcome had been different but you cannot preach democracy on one hand and refuse to accept the results on the democratic process on the other. That, in my opinion, is hypocrisy, and negates the rest of your argument on the subject." sure. let me begin by iterating, i have a huge respect for democratic norms and procedure. BUT as much as i respect democracy and its doctrines, at times, it has failed to earn me the credibilty that an otherwise logical/analytica/practical reasonings would give me. it's like i revere god out of sheer respect, but i am skeptic about their existence. or let's say, i am not a blind believer/follower (i am not an atheist by any means). at this point, allow me the privilege to recall the 2037 BS referendum of panchayat system vs. multiparty system. let's not scrutinize on how that referendum took place and/or question at its fairness. let's look at the end result, that is what it matters. if a democratic decision was logical/fair enough, panchayat would not have won. what happened thereafter? we were pushed by ten years before multiparty system was restored. at a risk of sounding hypocrite, what i am trying to put forth is, if you are against a sytem/institution, if you know that it's becoming a major hindrance in the path of a democratic practice, you should revolt and try to demolish/uproot it rather than keeping it at status quo and going for a more democratic approach (referendum) to see if it gets ousted. it's a big stake coz chances are, 9 out of 10 times, that system will prevail. it seems even more likely in nepal's context as we are in a rather unstable transient phase and i firmly believe that there are munificent people aplenty who are currently reticent and uninclined to any forces be it spa, maoists or king. the more the spa and maoists procrastinate to come into accord, the more the king/royals will cash in transit. and we all know how considerate we nepali people are. we have a strong tendency to forgive and forget literelly anything and anyone. it's quite obvious that nepal cannot be led with all of these three forces alive. the seven parties are the essence of our democratic platform. they are the backbone so they have to prevail. the king and the maoists are the extreme forces which are inco-existent. maoists have raised the voice and revolted against the incompetent and narcissist system which sucked nepal for centuries. they have every right to be a part of our democratic system if they are committed to remain within it's periphery. the only force that is absurd, burden and uncouth is the monarchy. if it prevails through referendum, nepal will be back to where we were 10 years back. LooTe