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Nepal's Political History

Summary

In the 18th century, the warrior king Prithvi Narayan Shah unified many princely states, bringing the country to its present shape and size. The unification marked the beginning of the rule by the Shah dynasty. In the past two-and-a-half centuries, the country has been ruled by 13 kings. In 1847 the Ranas took over power from the king and remained the de-facto rulers for 104 years. The Ranas word was law. The people revolted against the Rana oligarchy, and in 1951 the Rana regime gave way to democracy. King Tribhuwan supported the revolt. However, the ushering in of democracy wasn't completely free of political turmoil.

After years of political instability that followed, general elections were held in 1959 and for the first time the people had an elected government. B. P. Koirala, became the first elected prime minister of Nepal. In less than two years, King Mahendra, successor of King Tribhuwan dissolved both the government and the parliament, brought democracy to an end and introduced the party-less Panchayat rule. The Panchayat system, in which political parties were banned, continued for 30 years. During this period a number of armed and unarmed struggles against the system took place, which were crushed by the government. Students launched a major political movement in 1980 against the Panchayat system, during King Birendra's regime. To resolve the tension, the King announced a referendum. People were to choose between multi-party democracy and an improved version of the Panchayat system. In a controversial result, the multi party democracy was defeated. However it weakened the Panchayat system, paving way for the restoration of democracy after a decade.

The historical Movement of the people in 1990 overthrew the Panchayat system and restored multi-party democracy. Within a year, a democratic constitution was introduced, which, for the first time, made the people sovereign. Less than six years after the restoration of multi-party system, the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist started an armed insurgency in 1996 claiming that the people had not yet received justice.

In the decade long armed conflict more than 13 thousand Nepalese lost their lives. Thousands were displaced and hundreds disappeared. Terror, instability and infrastructure damage took its toll on the nation. In the meantime, the entire family of King Birendra was wiped out in the infamous Royal palace massacre. The subsequent rise of King Gyanendra, pushed the country to further turmoil. The government failed to hold elections in time. On charges of incompetence Sher Bahadur Deuba's elected government was overthrown and the King formed his own government.

The Maoists movement had in the meantime gathered momentum, hindering the holding of elections. The new government under Lokendra Bahadur Chand also failed to conduct elections. Surya Bahadur Thapa was appointed as the new Prime Minister. He held peace talks with the Maoists to prepare an environment for elections, but that too resulted in a failure. Deuba was reappointed the Prime Minister, but only remained in office for a short time, as dialogue with the Maoists did not materialize. The escalation of violence and killings only added to the people's desperation and increased security problem.

On February 1st 2005, the King took over absolute state powers and assumed the role of the Chairman of the cabinet, a cabinet that he had himself nominated. This led the political parties to form an alliance with the Maoist rebels. In November 2005, a 12-point agreement was signed by the seven political parties and the Maoists. The first objective of the agreement was to end the violent conflict and restore peace in the country. This agreement provided the Maoists an opportunity to suspend the armed movement and participate in a peaceful democratic movement.

The peaceful movement turned into a people's movement. Millions of people marched onto the streets demanding an end to the tyrannical monarchy and the writing of a new Constitution through a Constituent Assembly. The people finally forced the king to relinquish state control on April 24, 2006. The success of the People's Movement II left king Gyanendra powerless. The political parties are now committed to writing a Democratic Constitution through a Constituent Assembly elected by the people. The Maoists have become a part of the Parliament. The responsibilities vested in the King have now been transferred to the Prime Minister.

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