Rastriya Prajatantra Party
Rastriya Prajatantra Party राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Kamal Thapa |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters | Chabahil Kathmandu, Nepal |
| Ideology |
National conservatism Liberalism centre-right politics Republicanism[1] |
| International affiliation | International Democrat Union |
| Constituent Assembly |
37 / 601 |
| Website | |
| www.rppnepal.org | |
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nepali: राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी; translation: National Democratic Party) is a Nepalese political party. It is a centre-right, liberal conservative party, formed out of the political elite of the erstwhile Panchayat system, formed on 1990, after reestablishment of democracy in Nepal. It was formerly pro-monarchy, leaving the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal as the only major monarchist party in Nepal.
In 1997 RPP split after the faction led by pro-monarchy politician Lokendra Bahadur Chand joined a coalition government with Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), with Chand as Prime Minister. The faction led by Surya Bahadur Thapa allied itself with Nepali Congress and toppled the UML-RPP government. Effectively RPP-Chand began to function as a separate party. In 1998 the RPP-Chand and RPP-Thapa were reunited, after both factions had fared badly in the elections that year.
In the 1999 legislative elections, the party won 10.4% of the popular vote and 11 out of 205 seats.
At the third general convention of RPP, held in Pokhara December 2002, Surya Bahadur Thapa retired from his post as party chairman (which was mandatory according to the party constitution, as he had served two four-year terms). There were three candidates for the party chairmanship; the then general secretary Pashupati SJB Rana, the vice-chairman Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani and the Central Committee Member Rabindra Nath Sharma. Rana was elected as the new chairman with 735 votes. Lohani got 321 votes and Sharma 135 votes. A new Central Working Committee was elected, consisting of Kamal Thapa, Jayanta Chand, Buddhiman Tamang, Surya Bahadur K.C., Jog Mehar Shrestha, Padma Sundar Lawati, Bikram Pandey Dhurba Bahadur Pradhan, Parsu Ram Khapung, Deepak Bohora, Balaram Gharti Magar, Jagat Gauchan, Khem Raj Pandit, Rajiv Parajuli, Govinda Raj Khaniya, Prem Bahadur Bhandar, Bhuwan Pathak and Narendra Kumar Chaudhary. The convention also elected a 64-member Central Committee.[2][3]
The party split again in 2005 when former party president Surya Bahadur Thapa broke away and formed a new centre-right liberal party, the Rastriya Janashakti Party.
When the King dissolved the parliament, he had appointed RPP leader Kamal Thapa as Home Minister. RPP then suffered another split, with Kamal Thapa forming his own RPP which later became the royalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal.
In the 2008 election to the Constituent Assembly the party won 8 out of 601 seats. The liberal Janashakti party got 3 and the royalist RPP-Nepal got 4 seats in that election.
But Just before the The Constituent Assembly election, 2013, the Rastriya Janashakti Party merged again with the Rastriya Prajatantra Party. The new united party won 3 out of 240 first-past-the-post seats and 2.75% of proportional vote (10 out of 335 seats), making it 13 seats altogether in the new constitutional assembly. It is now the 6th largest party in the assembly. In comparison, the RPP-Nepal won 24 seats in the 601 member assembly, making it the 4th largest party.
Elections and results
RPP-Thapa = 1 seats (out of 205)
RPP-Chand = 3 seats (out of 205)
RPP = 20 seats (out of 205)
RPP = 11 seats (out of 205)
RPP = 8 seats (out of 601)
RPP-Nepal = 4 seats(out of 601)
Janashakti = 3 seats (out of 601)
RPP = 10 seats (out of 601)
RPP-Nepal = 24 seats (out of 601)
References
Sister Organization
External links
- Party website
- Info on the party from FES
- On the verge of split, article in Spotlight
