Rastriya Janashakti Party was a

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

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

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

, led by former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier 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. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

Surya Bahadur Thapa Surya Bahadur Thapa ( ne, सूर्य बहादुर थापा; 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 mor ...

. Thapa had split away from the

Rastriya Prajatantra Party The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (; ne, राष्ट्रिय प्रजातन्त्र पार्टी, lit=National Democratic Party; , ( ne, राप्रपा)) is a constitutional monarchist and Hindu nationalist politic ...

in November 2004.eKantipur.com - Nepal's No.1 News Portal
The party was registered with the Election Commission of Nepal 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 Dr. Prakash Chandra Lohani ( ne, डा .प्रकाशचन्द्र लोहनी) (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 ...

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 , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

, 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, Hari Bahadur Basnet, Sarvendra Nath Sukla and Renu Kumari Yadav. 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 ( ne, ज्ञानेन्द्र शाह, born 7 July 1947) is a former monarch who was the last King of Nepal, reigning from 2001 to 2008. As a child, he was briefly king from 1950 to 1951, when his grandfather, Tribhuva ...

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 Democracy Movement ( ne, text=लोकतन्त्र आन्दोलन, translit=Loktantra Āndolan) is a name given to the political agitations against the direct and undemocratic rule of King Gyanendra of Nepal. The movement ...

, 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, municipa ...

representatives and 230 members elected through

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...

. 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 Samyukta Samabeshi Morcha ( ne, संयुक्त समावेशी मोर्चा) is a coalition of political parties formed ahead of the 2008 Constituent Assembly election in Nepal. The coalition comprises the Rastriya Janshakti Pa ...

, a front of 'monarchist and democratic forces', along with Nepali Rastriya Janabhavana Party,

Rastriya Janamukti Party Rastriya Janamukti Partry ( ne, राष्ट्रिय जनमुक्ति पार्टी; translation Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language te ...

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 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. ...

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