Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal

Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal
राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी नेपाल
Chairman Kamal Thapa
Founded 2006
Dissolved November 26, 2016
Headquarters Kathmandu
Student wing National Democratic Student Organisation, Nepal
Youth wing National Democratic Youth Organisation, Nepal
Labour National Democratic Trade union confederation
Ideology Hindu nationalism
Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava
Monarchism
Conservatism
Economic liberalism[1]
Political position Right-wing
International affiliation India, USA, Canada, Middle East, EU and others.
Constituent Assembly
24 / 601
Election symbol
Website
www.rppn.org.np

Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (Nepali: राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी नेपाल; translation: National Democratic Party Nepal) was a Hindu right-wing, cultural conservative and royalist political party in Nepal.[2]

The party supports the restoration of the Hindu kingdom in Nepal under the Shah dynasty.[3] The party was registered with the Election Commission of Nepal ahead of the April 2008 Constituent Assembly election.[4] Ahead of the election, the party sought to form a front of royalist parties.[5]

In the 2013 elections, the party emerged as the fourth largest party in the Constituent Assembly winning 24 out of 575 seats.

History

Founding, 2006-2008

It was started as a breakaway faction of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party under leadership of Kamal Thapa, home minister under King Gyanendra's direct rule. Thapa resigned as party chair in October 2006.[6]

RPP won the largest number of mayors in the 2006 municipal election. Rajaram Shrestha won in the capital Kathmandu; also Khadga Prasad Palungua in Dharan, Pralhad Prasad Shah Haluwai in Biratnagar, Ram Shankar Shah in Jaleswor, Sumitra Madhinne in Bhaktapur, Madhukar Prasad Adhikari in Hetauda, Bimal Prasad Shrivastav in Birgunj, Bidur Khadka in Baglung and Bhimsen Thapa in Pokhara. However this election was boycotted by most major parties.[7]

In April 2006, the Nepal Samata Party (Socialist) merged into the party.[8]

In January 2007 the splinter group Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist) of Rajeswor Devkota rejoined the party. Bidwai Parishad of Jit Bahadur Arjel also merged with them[9]

On March 2, 2008, Rabindra Nath Sharma stepped down as party chairman, citing health reasons. Kamal Thapa again became chairmain.[10]

Constituent Assembly, 2008-2015

The party won four seats in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election. At the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly on May 28, 2008, the party was the only party to oppose the declaration of a republic; there were 560 votes in favor of a republic and only the party's four votes against.[11] Thapa subsequently said on June 20, 2008 that the country faced an impending "disaster", urging alertness among the party. He said that the party's policies and programmes would remain the same despite the political change.[12] On July 13, 2008, he described the abolition of the monarchy as merely "an interim decision", saying that the party sought the restoration of the monarchy.[13]

The party boycotted the July 2008 presidential election in the Constituent Assembly, on the grounds that the major parties were treating the election as a partisan contest.[14]

In August 2008 some senior leaders, including Rabindra Nath Sharma and Rajeshwor Devkota, left the party and joined the Rastriya Prajatantra Party.[15]

The party won 24 seats under proportional representation in the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections making it the fourth largest party in the house.[16] The party split following differences over naming candidates to the proportional representation seats won by the party. Central leaders of the party including former minister Tanka Dhakal and former Kathmandu mayoral candidate Rajaram Shrestha registered a new party the 'Nepali Rastriya Prajatantra Party' at the Election Commission on 30 December 2013.[17] However, the Election Commission turned down the breakaway group's request seeking recognition as a new party and claim of proportional representation seats.[18] Tanka Dhakal later announced his return to the party stating "Splitting the party at this moment is not in our interest. It will weaken democracy" [19] Other dissidents leaders said it was Chairman Kamal Thapa's "concession on monarchy and Hindu state" that precipitated the split.[20][21]

Unification, 2015-2016

When the party joined the government of Khadga Prasad Oli, Bikram Bahadur Thapa and Kunti Devi Shahi became state ministers.[22]

On 21 November 2016, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal and Rastriya Prajtantra Party announced their unificaion. The new party retained the name of Rastriya Prajatantra Party. The new party had a total strength of 37 in the Parliament of Nepal becoming the fourth largest party.[23] Kamal Thapa was elected chairman of the party in a special general convention in Kathmandu on February 2017.[24]

Electoral Performance

Election Leader Votes Seats Position Resulting goverment
2008 Kamal Thapa 110,519 1.03
4 / 575
 12th CPN (Maoist)–CPN (UML)–MJFN
2013 Kamal Thapa 630,697 6.66
24 / 575
 4th Congress–CPN (UML)–RPP

References

  1. ↑ "Nepali people never launched a revolution to remove monarchy". ekantipur. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  2. ↑ Situation Reports: Nepal, OCHA Nepal Situation Overview - Jun 2007
  3. ↑ Nepalnews.com Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd
  4. ↑ पार्टीको सूची — Election Commission of Nepal
  5. ↑ eKantipur.com - Nepal's No.1 News Portal
  6. ↑ eKantipur.com - Nepal's No.1 News Portal
  7. ↑ Nepalnews.com Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd
  8. ↑ Nepalnews.com Mercantile Communications Pvt. Ltd
  9. ↑ Microsoft Word - Feb_07_SAnepal.doc
  10. ↑ "Sharma resigns as RPP-N chief; Thapa takes over", Nepalnews, March 2, 2008.
  11. ↑ "RPP-Nepal becomes the only party against republic; some lawyers question procedures adopted by CA", Nepalnews, May 29, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Thapa predicts disaster soon", Nepalnews, June 21, 2008.
  13. ↑ "Thapa hopes for revival of monarchy", Nepalnews, July 14, 2008.
  14. ↑ "RPP-Nepal to boycott the presidential election", Nepalnews, July 18, 2008.
  15. ↑ http://www.nepalnews.com/archive/2008/aug/aug21/news06.php
  16. ↑ "Final Results of PR Vote Count". Election Commission of Nepal.
  17. ↑ "RPP-N splits over PR list candidates". eKantipur. 30 December 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2013.
  18. ↑ Sharma, Bhadra (1 January 2014). "EC turns down RPP-N faction’s pleas". eKantipur. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  19. ↑ "RPP-N rebel faction backtracks". Setopati. 3 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  20. ↑ "‘Thapa’s concession on monarchy, Hindu state caused RPP-N split’". The Kathmandu Post. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2014.
  21. ↑ Maila Baje. "Crowning Touches Of Exasperation". Nepali Netbook. Retrieved 13 January 2014."A deeper reason for the crisis is considered to be Thapa’s perceived post-election dilution of the party’s avowed agenda of restoring the monarchy."
  22. ↑ https://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/ampnews/2015-11-09/pm-oli-expands-cabinet.html
  23. ↑ "You are being redirected...". thehimalayantimes.com. Retrieved 2017-06-26.
  24. ↑ "Kamal Thapa reelected as RPP chairman". Retrieved 2017-06-26.
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