The King and Them

With the world focused on the sudden and shocking death of Benazir Bhutto, another political dynasty far older than the Bhuttos has fallen.

I'm talking - as if you didn't know - about the Nepalese monarchy.

Via the BBC:

Parliament in Nepal has voted to abolish the monarchy, as part of a peace deal with former Maoist rebels

Nepal will be declared a republic after elections in April next year.

King Gyanendra, whose dynasty dates back to 1769, lost popular support when he sacked the government in 2005 and assumed absolute power.

...

The king's fall from grace began in February 2005, when he dismissed parliament and took executive powers for himself, saying this was the way to root out corruption and end the Maoist insurgency of the day.

But his heavy-handed action united political opposition to him, and a violent uprising in April last year forced him to restore parliament.

The new civil authorities have since stripped him of his powers, his command over the army, his immunity from prosecution - and now are set to strip him of his title.

Well, the can declare themselves a 'federal democratic republican state' all they want but it's clear as Himalayan snow that Nepal is going to be a People's Republic before the new year is out.

The Maoists simply have too many advantages. They have the organization, they have the popular support, and they humbled the King's military with all its Western aid. Comrade Prachanda should start looking for apartments in Kathmandu.