EDITORIAL

Towards a Precipice

King Gyanendra’s reputation as a “shrewd operator” has suffered a lot in recent days. It is evident that he is increasingly getting jittery about his own ability to play cards effectively. He has used one political party against another to level the field for him to openly come into the fray. He famously ill-advised Prime Minister Deuba to dissolve the parliament—eventually paving the way for him to takeover the reins of the government in the pretext of restoring and peace. He still maintains that the royal power-grab is constitutional. Though he has invoked the vague article 127 to justify his actions, he has rather been very twitchy about this constitution. He isn’t big on rule of law; his actions speak louder than his words.

In a series of self-fulfilling prophecies he gets his men to utter, the latest is word out on a new constitution. As many legal experts put it, the present constitution is in a state of coma; the king wants to hammer the last nail on the coffin of the constitution to bury it alive. The reason: it doesn’t serve the royal mission and vision. If this is any indication, the king is certainly feeling very low on his “can-do-it” attitude. And this low feeling and the resultant irrationality compounded by his inflated ego is not only taking him down but his dynasty and whole institution of monarchy towards a precipice. Beyond this there is a point of no return.