Kamal Thapa calls for national reconciliation and systemic change
Senior RPP leader Kamal Thapa has urged Prime Minister Balen Shah to build a political system with room for everyone from the king to the parties, and says his own party is at its weakest in its 35-year history.
Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) senior leader Kamal Thapa has called for a new political arrangement in Nepal with room for every force, from the monarchy to today's parties. Speaking at party interactions in Birgunj, Sarlahi and Janakpurdham (Dhanusha), the former deputy prime minister said the current federal, secular system has failed, Nagarik News reported.
A call to the prime minister
According to Nagarik News, Thapa urged Prime Minister Balen Shah at the Dhanusha event to start changing the country's form of governance and to build a national reconciliation that takes in everyone from the king to the political parties. He advised the prime minister not to follow the path to the fate that earlier rulers met, and said that carrying on with the old governance structure was not right. Nagarik also reported him saying that corruption afflicts the country and that young people cannot find even ordinary work at home.
At the Sarlahi event, reported by Nagarik News and Nepal Live, Thapa spoke of the need for national reconciliation, good governance and political stability. He advised the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and CPN-Maoist Centre to correct their past errors, and urged the newer Rastriya Swatantra Party and its leaders Balendra Shah and Rabi Lamichhane to learn from the older parties' weaknesses and work toward a system that has room for all Nepalis.
Internal challenges for the RPP
Thapa was also candid about his own party's condition. As reported by Nepal Press and Makalu Khabar, he said at an interaction in Birgunj that the RPP is at its weakest point in its 35-year history, even as, in his words, people are looking for a monarchy, a Hindu state, good governance and economic prosperity. He said the weakness is organisational and not only the result of election defeats, with leaders and cadres short on enthusiasm.
Thapa said that in Kathmandu district, where the party won more votes than the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and Maoists in the 2070 BS elections (2013), it could not find enough people to fill the district committee even when the election was uncontested. He said local elections are three months away and begin in Falgun (the Nepali month that starts on February 13, 2027), and warned that the party is struggling to find candidates.
He urged the leadership to change its working culture, saying the party cannot move forward while leaders take the attitude that they are the party and that anyone who opposes them has no place in it. He said the coming general convention must elect leaders determined to advance the agenda of restoring the Hindu state and the monarchy.
Despite the setbacks, Thapa said he was confident the RPP can revive. He argued that if the Rastriya Swatantra Party could win nearly two-thirds in a single election, the RPP could also secure a huge majority by explaining the country's situation and its agenda to the public. He added that even if the present generation fails to restore the Hindu state and the monarchy, he believes the younger generation will.