Rastriya Janashakti Party was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * Generally, a supporter of the political philosophy liberalism. Liberals may be politically left or right but tend to be centrist. * An adherent of a Liberal Party (See also Liberal parties by country ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

, led by former

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Surya Bahadur Thapa Surya Bahadur Thapa (; March 21, 1928 – April 15, 2015) was a Nepali politician and a five-time Prime Minister of Nepal. He served under three different kings in a political career lasting more than 50 years. Thapa was selected as a member of ...

. Thapa had split away from the

Rastriya Prajatantra Party The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (; ; , ()) is a monarchist, constitutional monarchist and Hindu nationalist List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal. The party was formed by Panchayat (Nepal), Panchayat era Prime Minister o ...

in November 2004.eKantipur.com - Nepal's No.1 News Portal
The party was registered with the

Election Commission of Nepal The Election Commission, Nepal (; ''Nirvācana āyōg, Nēpāl'') is a constitutional body responsible for conducting and monitoring elections, as well as registering parties and candidates and reporting election outcomes, in Nepal. It was born o ...

in March 2005. The party merged into

on July 25, 2007.

Leadership

The party is led by a Central Working Committee. Thapa is the chairman of the party.

Prakash Chandra Lohani Prakash Chandra Lohani () (born 21 April 1944) is a Nepalese politician, economist and member of the ARPPR. He has served as a Minister of Finance, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Agriculture, Minister of Labour & Transportation, and ...

is the vice chairman of the party.

Split from RPP

RJP emerged from a split in the

, as Thapa left the RPP, which he helped found in 1990, on November 4, 2004. On November 19, 2004, Thapa and his followers opened a 'contact office' in Balutwar,

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, to organise a broad political conference and coordinate the construction of a new party. On December 27, 2004 the group formed a 320-member organising committee for the holding of the conference of the new party. Thapa was chairman of the committee, Lohani vice chairman and Buddhiman Tamang secretary. Other prominent members of the committee were

Kamal Thapa Kamal Thapa () is a Nepalese politician belonging to Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal. Thapa, has served as a Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Deputy Prime Minister and Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration (Nepal), Federal A ...

, Hari Bahadur Basnet, Sarvendra Nath Sukla and

Renu Kumari Yadav Renu Kumari Yadav ( Nepali: रेणु कुमारी यादव) (born 16 January 1959) is a Nepali politician and member of House of Representatives on proportional representation. She most recently served as the Minister for Physical ...

. Kamal Thapa left the committee in January 2005.

Foundation

The RJP was founded on March 13, 2005. The 'broad political conference' was, however, postponed due to the imposition of Emergency rule by

King Gyanendra Gyanendra Shah (born 7 July 1947) is the final monarch of Nepal, ruled from 2001 until 2008, when the monarchy was overthrown. He briefly held the throne as a child between 1950 and 1951, when his grandfather Tribhuvan and his family fled to In ...

on February 1, 2005.

2005-2006 coup and revolt

RJP had expressed differences with

after the February 1, 2005 coup, over issues like political appointments in the local administrations. RJP accused the King of eliminating the forces working for constitutional monarchy, through his political actions. At the time, RJP tried to profile itself as a centrist party, in between positions advocating direct monarchical rule and republic. RJP boycotted the 2006 municipal election.eKantipur.com - Nepal's No.1 News Portal
During the

Loktantra Andolan The 2006 Nepal revolution also known as the Democracy Movement ( ''Jana Andolan II''). It was a political movement that was opposed to Nepal's King of Nepal, monarchy system under King Gyanendra. The movement was the second protest against the ...

, the RJP suggested that the King Gyanendra would initiate talks with 'constitutional forces'. When the King was stripped of his political powers by the interim parliament, RJP did not object.

Merger

In November 2006, the Prajatantrik Nepal Party led by Keshar Bahadur Bista merged into RJP. Bista became general secretary of RJP.

2008 election

Ahead of the Constituent Assembly election, RJP had proposed having a mixed election system, with 75

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

representatives and 230 members elected through

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

. The party also proposed constituting an 'Ethnic Assembly' as the upper house of parliament. In April 2007, the party dropped the term 'constitutional monarchy' from its party statue. On February 15, 2008, RJP formed the Samyukta Samabeshi Morcha, a front of 'monarchist and democratic forces', along with

Nepali Rastriya Janabhavana Party Nepali Rastriya Janabhavana Party is a political party in Nepal. The party is registered with the Election Commission of Nepal ahead of the 2008 Constituent Assembly election 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. ...

Rastriya Janamukti Party Rastriya Janamukti Partry (; translation: National People's Liberation Party) is a List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal. The party was founded on 6 May 1990 as Nepal Rastriya Janamukti Morcha. After unification with Rastri ...

and Rastriya Jana Ekta Party. The front favours ceremonial monarchy. On February 19, 2008, RJP had called for an election boycott, claiming that the situation in Madhes made elections impossible to hold. After an agreement was reached between

United Democratic Madhesi Front United Democratic Madhesi Front (, transliteration: Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha)was a political alliance of Madheshi people, Madhesh-based political parties in Nepal created for the Madhes Movement. It was formed in 2008 by Madheshi Jana Ad ...

and the Government of Nepal on February 27, 2008, and the UDMF parties pledge to contest the CA polls, the RJP declared that it would participate as well. On March 6, 2008, Thapa declared that his party was not

monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

, but would accept the verdict of the voters. RJP MPs had previously boycotted a vote in the interim parliament on making Nepal a

republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

. Thapa had dubbed the vote 'an attack on the fundamental norms of democracy'.POLITICS-NEPAL: Monarchy's Fate Sealed, Maoists to Rejoin Gov't
At the elections to the

Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

, the RJP received 79,925 votes (0.77%) in the constituency vote, winning no seats. With 102,147 votes (0.95%) in the party list vote the RJP won three seats to the Assembly. Just before, Constituent Assembly election, 2013 Rastriya Janashakti Party merged with Rastriya Prajatantra Party.

References

{{Political parties in Nepal Political parties in Nepal Political parties established in 2005 2005 establishments in Nepal