Kingdom in crisis

ONCE UPON A TIME THERE WAS a king who acted like a dictator. That did not go well, so the king called an election. But the people doubted him. Rebels boycotted, assassinating two candidates and threatening to kill more. So the king offered life insurance to anyone who would stay on the ballot.

The situation in Nepal might seem like a comic fairy tale if it were not actually a dire reality. The Himalayan kingdom, once a paradise for traveling hippies and mountain climbers but now plagued by civil war, is devolving into political miasma. Every attempt to make things better seems to leave them worse.

King Gyanendra, frustrated by his inability to defeat a Maoist insurgency, took drastic measures one year ago. Already head of the government, he attempted to seize control of all information, shutting down phones lines, cellphones and Internet access and dictating exactly what could be broadcast or printed within Nepal. Yet his promises -- to end the civil war, crush the Maoists and return the country to democracy in 100 days -- went nowhere. Phone service eventually resumed, but political progress froze.

Now, taking a different tack, the king has scheduled municipal elections to take place across Nepal on Wednesday. But the nation’s opposition parties are refusing to field candidates.

Past elections in Nepal, beginning in 1990, have generally been ruined by blatant ballot stuffing and vote buying. In a country that is still dirt poor, with per-capita income at less than $25 a month, a Maoist campaign sprouted in 1996 and won support for its plan to redistribute wealth, end the monarchy and nationalize state assets. In 10 years, more than 12,000 people have died in the civil war as the rebels gained control of more and more of the countryside.

In a bizarre episode in 2001, a crown prince who had been drinking shot and killed his parents -- the king and queen -- as well as a sister and a brother before committing suicide. Gyanendra, brother to the slain king and nearest surviving male kin, became the monarch. Unpopular and politically inept, Gyanendra has done little to inspire confidence. Token elections are better than none at all, but real positive change is still a long way off.