Kathmandu, April 26

The Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal, which withdrew support to the government recently, decided to launch nation-wide protests from streets and the Parliament to pressure the government to address its demands.

The party informed about its protest programmes issuing a press release today following its presidium meeting. The party has, however, not stated the dates and modes of its protest.

The party demanded that the government ensure amendment to the constitution, withdraw false cases filed against its cadres and leaders, free its lawmaker Resham Lal Chaudhary and make the Girish Chandra Lal-led commission’s report public. The party also decided to merge with other parties having similar agenda or form a coalition with them. The RJP-N said its attention had been drawn to the interim order passed by the Supreme Court today that could invalidate citizenship certificates issued to around 34,000 people in 1997. The party expressed its concern saying such court orders could weaken the country’s nationality and render thousands of Nepalis stateless.

The party also decided to hold its general convention from November 14 to 16. Earlier, it had decided to hold its first GC from April 20 to 22, but had to postpone it due to lack of preparation for the same. The party formed a main preparatory committee under Mahantha Thakur including all the central committee members in the committee.

The party also delegated all powers to Thakur on matters related to preparation for the GC.