In early May, Nepal will go to the polls for a third time. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is optimistic that his Nepali Congress will gain a majority, paving the way for stable government and faster economic development. So far, political instability has stymied economic progress. Real wages have remained virtually stagnant for the past 10 years. In the government's defence, Prime Minister Koirala, who also headed the first elected government in 1991, says the high expectations of nine years ago were impossible to meet.
Some local analysts believe Nepal's problems are simply teething troubles.
Our present difficulties are the legacy of decades of authoritarianism, under which education was neglected. Now, at the very least, we are a democracy and can discuss our problems openly. But both Dixit and Panday think that legacy can't be purged until political power passes to a more educated generation, now growing up with democratic values and modern skills. The development aid that flooded into the country after 1990 helps to fund better education, but the money also has exacerbated the government's inefficiency and corruption, Panday says. But if anything, that's been counterproductive.