Kathmandu [Nepal], April 9 (ANI): Nepal’s royalist party, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), has announced a proposal to develop a new political system as it prepares to launch a capital-centric protest from the third week of this month.
On Tuesday, at a show of power in Kathmandu attended by hundreds, the president of the right-wing pro-monarchist party, Rajendra Lingden, proposed a new system that would also accommodate the monarchy.
“The country cannot remain in the condition it is now. The country needs to move forward, but not through the way it is standing now. That’s why the country demands a new agreement, and for that, a peaceful resolution through the consensus in between all the political powers needs to be agreed on,” Lingden said, addressing the mass of hundreds of monarch supporters holding the national flag and placards.
Further adding, the president of the royalist party said, “Let’s incorporate the good aspects from the past system and some from the incumbent, making an agreement to forge a new elemental system of Nepal. In that system, there will be space from the King to the republicans of the present time, whereas the public will be the sovereign. The King will be a parental institution, a directly elected Prime Minister, a sovereign Hindu state, federal governments replaced with powerful local bodies and a strong central government.”
Formed in the 1990s after the lifting of the ban on the formation of political parties by the then-monarchical system, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has since served as a force always supporting kingship. It has also taken part in periodic elections and presented its demands.
In 2008, right after the overthrow of monarchy rule in Nepal, the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) secured 8 seats in the then Constituent Assembly out of the 575-seated strong parliament. In the 2013 election, it was able to secure 13 seats, while in 2017, it fell down to 1 seat. However, it bounced back in the 2022 election with 14 seats.
Since its inception, the party has supported the Hindu state and kingship as interdependent in the tiny nation buffered between two giants–India and China. The Himalayan nation of Nepal, with a population of 30.55 million, has a Hindu population of 81.19 per cent, as per the census of 2022.
The Monarch of the Himalayan nation, who follows the lineage of the Shah dynasty, was revered as an incarnation of the Hindu god Bishnu. With the abolishment of the monarchy, it was limited to a very small group, which is now re-emerging.
With increasing support and sentiment for the abolished system, the party is now planning to hold a capital-centric protest starting the third week of this month, confirmed Khusbu Oli, a Central Committee member, to ANI.
“After ten days all the movement will be capital centric, people from all over the country will be coming to the capital and there are different ways of protest, we will be installed in Ring Road area and there are a lot of strategic plans that we have made just to put pressure on the government. What we want after this is that the government needs to call for a new agreement; we want a fresh agreement where all the stakeholders, including the political parties and the king, should be within it,” Oli told ANI as supporters surrounded her.
Further adding, “In the past, all the political changes in Nepal has not been achieved from election or war, there were a lot of opportunities where political changes have come with political consensus. We believe that a fresh agreement that will have the king and all the parties within is the only solution, and all our capital-centric movement will be focused on that,” Oli told ANI.
The Himalayan nation in the year 2006 had abolished the centuries-old constitutional monarchy after then King Gyanendra seized power and imposed emergency, sending all the leaders under house arrest. The movement, also referred to as “People’s Movement II,” witnessed bloodshed, with dozens killed in the crackdown against protestors by the government.
The insurgent CPN-Maoists then came into the mainstream politics of Nepal, ending a decade-long insurgency by signing a comprehensive peace accord on 21 November 2006. Before the signing of the agreement, after weeks of violent protests and increasing international pressure, Gyanendra gave up and reinstated the dissolved parliament. The dawn of new democracy is highlighted as Loktantra (People’s Rule).
Two years after abolishing the nearly two-and-a-half centuries old monarchy system, the Himalayan nation became a republic and a secular state on May 28, 2008. Within less than two decades into the new practice of governance, the Himalayan nation is now divided into two factions of pro- and anti-monarchy.
Dissatisfaction and brain drain prevalent amongst the people have been fuelling the pro-monarch movement.
“In order to reinstate the monarchy and against incumbent Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s anarchism, we people need to work on a cordial environment, with an aim not to pose any loss or damage to the nation. The political parties should also come to a consensus and give space to the monarchy as well. After the overthrow of kingship, youths don’t have any other option than to fly off to Gulf countries. The educated ones and those who want to work and live in the country alongside their family don’t have a favourable environment. In order to make our voices heard, we are here on the streets,” Siddharaj Timilsina, a pro-monarchist, told ANI. (ANI)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed of ANI; only the image & headline may have been reworked by News Services Division of World News Network Inc Ltd and Palghar News and Pune News and World News
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