Royal coup by king Mahendra

Declaring parliamentary democracy a failure, King Mahendra carried out a royal coup 18 months later, in 1960. He dismissed the elected Koirala government, declared that a 'party less' [[Panchayat (Nepal)|Panchayat]] system''' would govern Nepal, and promulgated '''another new Royal coup by King Mahendra constitution''' on December 16, 1960.

Subsequently, the elected Prime Minister, Members of Parliament and hundreds of democratic activists were arrested. (In fact, this trend of arrest of political activists and democratic supporters continued for the entire 30 year period of partyless Panchayati System under King Mahendra and then his son, King Birendra).

The new constitution established a "partyless" system of panchayats (councils) which King Mahendra considered to be a democratic form of government, closer to Nepalese traditions. As a pyramidal structure, progressing from village assemblies to a [Rastriya Panchayat] (National Parliament), the Panchayat system constitutionalised the absolute power of the monarchy and kept the King as head of state with sole authority over all governmental institutions, including the Cabinet (Council of Ministers) and the Parliament. One-state-one-language became the national policy in an effort to carry out state unification, uniting various ethnic and regional groups into a singular Nepali nationalist bond. The [[Back to the Village National Campaign]], launched in 1967, was one of the main rural development programmes of the Panchayat system.

King Mahendra was succeeded by his 27-year-old son, King [[Birendra of Nepal|Birendra]], in 1972. Amid student demonstrations and anti-regime activities in 1979, King Birendra called for a national referendum to decide on the nature of Nepal's government: either the continuation of the panchayat system with '''democratic reforms''' or the establishment of a multiparty system. The referendum was held in May 1980, and the panchayat system won a narrow victory. The king carried out the promised reforms, including selection of the prime minister by the Rastriya Panchayat.

People in rural areas had expected that their interests would be better represented after the adoption of parliamentary democracy in 1990. The [[Nepali Congress]] with support of "Alliance of leftist parties" decided to launch a decisive agitational movement, [[Jana Andolan]], which forced the monarchy to accept constitutional reforms and to establish a '''multiparty parliament'''. In May 1991, Nepal held its first parliamentary elections in nearly 50 years. The Nepali Congress won 110 of the 205 seats and formed the first elected government in 32 years.