Nepal has become a republic. A special assembly of legislators voted overwhelmingly this week to abolish the country's 239-year old monarchy. The Maoist-dominated Parliament now begins the difficult task of governing one of the world's poorest countries. All the country's political parties and its people will need our help.
King Gyanendra is the last reigning member of a dynasty that was established in 1768 when Nepal was forged from a disparate group of principalities. The kings were believed to be the reincarnation of Hindu gods — a powerful source of legitimacy in a population that today is 80 percent Hindu.
The monarchy suffered a powerful blow in 2001 when then Crown Prince Dipendra killed his father, the popular King Birendra, and eight other members of the royal family in a mysterious massacre, and then killed himself.