Nepal's King Gyanendra called Wednesday's municipal elections to appease international objections to his seizing of power a year ago. The polls were, he said, the first of a series of steps to restore democracy.
There was nothing democratic about the process of electing mayors and councillors, who will have little power and responsibility.
Turnout was little more than 20 per cent for the fewer than half of the seats that were contested; members of newly formed political groups loyal to the king won most races because of a boycott by opposition parties; and fear pervaded the process amid the arrests of candidates by royalist troops and police and threats from Maoist insurgents. There was a major assault by the Maoists on polling day and a large group of protesters were later shot at by the Nepalese army. Conditions could not have been much worse.
Only the king and his supporters are satisfied with the results; opponents, foreign governments and human rights groups continue to voice disapproval.
The polls were a smokescreen and have done nothing to endorse the actions of an autocratic ruler who appears to have self-interest rather than the good of his people in mind.
There have been more than 6,000 arrests of politicians, human rights workers, trade union members and journalists, among others, since he sacked the democratically elected government. There is now no truly free media in Nepal and to exercise his will, the king routinely imposes emergency rule or orders the severing of communication links internally and to the outside world.