Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Nepal’s royalist parties are organising themselves ahead of the upcoming elections in order to run against the ruling seven-party pro-Republic alliance.

The upcoming elections scheduled for 10 April come almost nine years after the last at a turning point in the country’s history. They represent an important step in the process of regional pacification.

Royalists want to reinstate the king who was forced to give up his crown in 2006 when a caretaker government was set up current Prime Minister Prasad Koirala who was picked by the seven-party alliance.

But for current Home Affairs Minister Krishna Prasad Sitaula, the “nation has already paved the way for republicanism. People now hate the monarchy and no one can defend the king. The handful of people who do so are merely putting their efforts into a futile job.”