Invoking his ancestor, Prithvi Narayan Shah, the 18th-century founder of his dynasty and unifier of the nation, Nepal's King Gyanendra on February 1st came close to reimposing absolute monarchy. He sacked the all-party government and suspended constitutional freedoms of expression, assembly and movement, the protection from preventive detention and the rights to information and privacy. The next day he unveiled a new cabinet of cronies, chancers and nobodies, which he will chair. As dictators usually do these days, the king pronounced himself a democrat and promised to restore multiparty rule within three years.
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