National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

On The Verge Of Split

By boycotting the party’s anniversary celebrations, the Thapa brigade of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party indicates they will split the party

By KESHAB POUDEL

Rana : Divided house

From the supreme leader of the five agitating parties Girija Prasad Koirala to the CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal, RPP president Pashupati Sumsher Rana was busy welcoming them all at a function organized to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the party.

But the entire pro-Thapa government brigade led by Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, who is the founding president of the party, was conspicuous by their absence at the function.

The absence of so many strong party stalwarts at the meeting hinted that the RPP- which was born as a twin headed by two former prime ministers Surya Bahadur Thapa and Lokendra Bahadur Chand – could be heading towards another split in near future, which would be its second split after uniting in 1994. “If someone wants to leave the party, nobody will follow them. We had sent invitation to all party workers but they did not turn up,” said Dhruba Bahadur Pradhan, a central committee member of RPP.

Following the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1990, the erstwhile leaders of Panchayat system took a decision to set up a party to contest the multi party elections. After the debacle in the first general elections in 1991 when two party secured just 4 seats out of 205, the leaders of both the parties initiated unity efforts. The party united in 1994 and contested mid-term elections in 1995. The mid-term elections placed the RPP in a key position with 19 (decisive) seats in the hung parliament.

The party was split again in 1997 when RPP leader Lokendra Bahadur Chand formed a coalition government making alliance with the CPN-UML. Following the split in RPP, the government collapsed and a new RPP-Nepali congress coalition government emerged under RPP leader Surya Bahadur Thapa.

This resulted in yet another split in the party when Chand and Thapa opened up separate political offices. The party paid the price for that break up in the general elections of 1998 when it secured just 12 seats in the parliament. Subsequently, Chand rejoined the party again.

After the dismissal of elected government of prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba by King Gyanendra on October 4, 2002, RPP leader Lokendra Bahadur Chand was picked up to lead the government. As was their custom, the party led by Thapa did not support Chand government.

“Our party has already split in terms of party as single entity. We are heading towards physical split. I am tired of seeing endless internal conflicts. I have not seen any good sense prevailing in both the warring factions,” said Rabindra Nath Sharma, a former minister and senior RPP leader.

The latest general convention of the party held in 2003 elected Pashupati Sumsher Rana as a president. Just few months after the convention, Surya Bahadur Thapa was appointed as a prime minister.

The subsequent events were the repetition of the history. RPP president Pashupati Sumsher Rana declined to support the Thapa government. In November, RPP leadership demanded resignation of the prime minister Thapa. In the first week of May, the party held a demonstration demanding his resignation.

The RPP, ever since it came into being, has suffered the series of splits. The only things different were which leaders belonged to which factions when. As it is, the RPP leaders have mastered the art of switching loyalties. The seem to change sides as quickly as one changes socks.

When the party was formed in early 1990s, Pashupati Sumsher Rana, Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani and Kamal Thapa were with the former prime minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand. The equation has changed now as Kamal Thapa and Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani have aligned themselves with the outgoing prime minister Surya Bahadur Thapa.

From Panchayat era to present, former Panchas are divided into two fronts – liberal and conservative.

“If party leaders do not show any sign of compromise, we will take our own course,” said Buddhiman Tamang, an RPP central committee member and diehard supporter of Thapa. “We will teach a lesson to the party leadership.”

As the party again hurtles towards split, it remains to be seen whether the RPP leaders can avert it or not in time.