NEPAL'S DEMOCRATIC revolution has culminated in the abolition of the 239-year-old Hindu monarchy and the proclamation of a republic by the new constituent assembly. Elections last month gave the country's Maoists most seats in the assembly, allowing them to form the new government. Yesterday's symbolic meeting was delayed by security uncertainties, but there is no reversing the historic transition from feudal monarchy to modern democracy on the roof of the world.
The ancient Himalayan society of 28 million people has had a very chequered experience of parliamentary rule since gaining independence from Britain. After years of wrangling between king and parliament the partial democratic experiment was dissolved in 1959. A "party-less" absolute monarchy ruled until 1989, when a popular movement forced the now outgoing King Gyanendra's predecessor, King Birendra, to accept constitutional reforms. This system was rudely interrupted by a growing Maoist rebellion that started in 1996 and claimed 14,000 victims. Gyanendra's complete failure to suppress it after seizing absolute power in 2005 spelled the end of his dynasty following an agreement between the Maoists and other parties to demand democratic change. The Maoists withdrew from an all-party coalition to demand immediate abolition of the monarchy and have now won that political argument.
How they will use their power is a huge question facing the new republic. Recruited disproportionately from lower castes, minority groups and disadvantaged women, they are a fiercely egalitarian and republican rather than a socialist movement. Their leadership demands a comprehensive modernisation of Nepalese life within a multi-party framework and a regulated market society. Whether such an essentially social democratic vision will be sustained depends greatly on how effectively the party's 30,000 troops and activists can be absorbed into the army, civil service and other new institutions and how its leaders adapt to government.
Nepal is also a very poor society, but a strategically placed one, whose political direction will be influential among its neighbours. The Maoist movement there has several parallels with the Naxalite movements in northern India, which will be inspired by their victory. Nepal will also demand renegotiation of "unequal treaties" agreed with India after independence. These dramatic events are a welcome reminder of the power of political change.