We are greatly concerned over the crisis that Nepal, a country so friendly to Bangladesh, is now passing through. The government of Deuba has been sacked twice in the last two years and the country is still groping for a stable multi-party system of government which has eluded it over the last 14 years. It is evident that the constitutional monarchy has overtaken the transition to a democratic order based on broad political consensus that could be a durable basis of effective governance. The King insists that he had acted to safeguard the "larger interests" of the country and has pledged to restore democracy under his own chairmanship. This kind of defence in favour of any extreme measure in politics is not new. But the politicians of Nepal, particularly in the coalition government of Deuba, have rejected the action as nothing but a coup on the part of the monarch.

The ground reality is that Nepal has been struggling to fend off the Maoist insurgency. So it was absolutely necessary to have unity at the political level which could ensure a strong government. But that has not happened so far, and the country's drift towards uncertainty is again quite noticeable. The monarchy was supposed to be the symbol of national unity, but there is no doubt that frequent intervention on its part in governance will only sow the seeds of divisiveness and weaken the government.

The King by his actions has created a political vacuum that has to be filled urgently to avoid further deepening of the crisis.