Not even if someone wanted to deliberately sabotage the country would they be as successful as the Seven Minus One party alliance running this country. We have given them credit where it is due in this space. We have tried to look at the glass as half full and tried to convince ourselves (and you) that we should cut the politicians some slack. After all they have brought us this far since April 2006.

Yes, it has taken longer than it should. Yes, our rulers have behaved as if there is no tomorrow. But the country is now finally coming to the grand finale of this messy transition. What has happened in this country is an extraordinary makeover of our state structure with relatively little violence. The reason it is taking longer than expected is also because of the conspiracies of status quoists and those extremists who still haven't given up their futile dream of a communist utopia.

But the main reason for the current instability is because of the individual short-sightedness of our political leaders and their collective fecklessness. They have achieved what we all thought was impossible: to fritter away the gains of the pro-democracy uprising of April 2006, let the people down once again and be a total failure in governance. Compared to this, at least where it concerns service delivery, the dictatorial monarchy is beginning to look like the golden years. It takes breath-taking incompetence and a complete lack of accountability to succeed in being so unsuccessful.

The breakdown of law and order is so complete that a paramilitary police force armed with automatic weapons cannot open a major highway artery when it is blocked by a couple of tyre-burning hooligans because one of them was arrested for robbery.

It doesn't surprise us one bit that the Madhes has been allowed to burn. At press time on Thursday afternoon, the prime minister had suddenly woken up from deep slumber and was in meetings with Madhesi leaders. Going by past experience, whatever is agreed on will be too little too late.

The people's disgust at the crippling shortages of fuel, power and water is now turning into outrage. Yet, even at a time of deep crisis like this all our rulers can do is sling mud at each other, blame everyone but themselves and warn of dark conspiracies afoot.

The public's opinion of politicians in Kathmandu is mud. They have stopped expecting any statesmanship from this bunch, and are getting on with their lives despite unprecedented hardships.

It is precisely because the people now have a chance to throw out this class of failed politicians that they are so scared of elections. Time to give power (both political and electric) back to the people.