Nepal Overthrew Its King Years Ago. Now, Some Want Him Back.

When Nepal’s deposed monarch, King Gyanendra, flew into Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport in March, he was given a hero’s welcome: Thousands of his would-be subjects were there to greet him.  

“Vacate the royal palace for the king,” the crowds chanted. “Come back king, save the country. We want monarchy.” 

In the months since, those protests have grown and sometimes turned violent, with at least two killed in standoffs with the police.  

The protests ignited, Nepalis say, because they have grown frustrated with the republic: It has not brought about political stability, clean government, turned around the economy or delivered on its promises to improve life for around 30 million Nepalis.  

“It shows a latent undercurrent finally coming to the fore: A dissatisfied nation is expressing its frustration with the political elite that has been in power for two decades,” wrote New Lines magazine. “A litany of scams and corrupt deals has eroded public trust in the government, creating a serious crisis of impunity and political legitimacy.”  

Gyanendra, 77, was crowned in 2001 after his nephew killed King Birendra, his father, and eight other members of the royal Shah family before shooting himself.  

He ruled as head of state but as per the constitutional monarchy at the time, he had no executive or political power until 2005, when he seized control of the government, saying it was necessary to defeat the anti-monarchy Maoist rebels, who had been fighting a decade-long civil war that resulted in thousands of deaths.  

The king disbanded the government and parliament, jailed politicians and journalists, and declared a state of emergency, using the military to cement control over the country. 

A year later, he was forced to back down after mass protests broke out. Nepal then established a multi-party government, which signed a peace deal with the Maoists. In 2008, parliament voted to abolish the country’s 240-year-old Hindu monarchy, transforming the country into a secular republic. The king stepped down. 

But since then, Nepal has had 13 governments – five prime ministers in the past five years alone – and undergone multiple economic shocks that have led to spiraling inflation and chronic unemployment. As a result, Nepalis like Kulraj Shrestha, 50, who had taken part in the 2006 protests against the king, are now rethinking their positions. 

“The worst thing that is happening to the country is massive corruption, and all politicians in power are not doing anything for the country,” Shrestha told the Associated Press. “I was in the protests that took away monarchy hoping it would help the country, but I was mistaken and the nation has further plunged so I have changed my mind.” 

Analysts say that discontent with the government has been growing for years. 

“The delivery of public services has not met the expectations of the people,” wrote the Lowy Institute. “Cases of corruption had been increasing over the years. These factors created the conditions for the re-emergence of the hitherto dormant royalists… The pro-monarchists accused several political parties, including that of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli, of being corrupt and incompetent in leading the country.” 

The protesters say they now want a constitutional monarchy that declares Nepal a parliamentary democracy with a Hindu identity: The Hindu population in Nepal fears the growth of other religions in the country that could put their Hindu majority at risk, analysts say.  

Gyanendra has not commented on the calls for the return of the monarchy. However, the protests ignited after he made a statement during the country’s democracy day in February, asking for support to “save our nation” and push for “prosperity and progress.”  

Meanwhile, despite the growing support for the return of the monarchy, it has a slim chance of returning to power, analysts say.  

“For some disgruntled groups, it has become a retreat due to the incompetence of politicians who have grown increasingly self-centered,” Lok Raj Baral of the Nepal Center for Contemporary Studies told Agence France-Presse, adding that the monarchy itself was “a source of instability.”