Kathmandu, May 12:

Chairman of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal Kamal Thapa today called on political parties to put on hold the decision to turn the country into a republic till a new constitution is framed and promulgated.

The Constituent Assembly should not take a decision to abolish the monarchy in haste as the hasty abolition of the institution of monarchy can invite political disasters,” the former royal cabinet minister told an interaction at the Reporters’ Club.

Thapa, who met Maoist chairman Prachanda earlier in the morning, warned that political uncertainty will grip the nation if monarchy is abolished in haste.

Dwelling on his recent meetings with the king Gyanendra, Thapa said, “I found him to be non-chalant and uniquely confident. He does not appear desperate.”

“The constituent assembly was only a partial referendum on the issue of monarchy. I still believe that people will oblige if the king issues a statement calling them to vote for him,” Thapa said when asked if he still advocates holding a referendum to decide the fate of monarchy.

Meanwhile, former prime minister and founder member of Nepali Congress Krishna Prasad Bhattarai today urged all not to abolish the institution of monarchy as it could deepen the problems facing the country.

“The institution of monarchy can still play a role to unify nation’s culture and civilisation and protect national integrity and ethnic and geographical diversity of the nation,” Bhattarai said.

“Since no party has an absolute majority in the Constituent Assembly only politics of consensus can bail the country out of the current crisis and that failure to work on consensus would endanger the existence of the nation,” he said in a press statement issued here today.