Damaru Lal Bhandari

Kathmandu, February 23:

A section of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) today rooted for outright support to the royal takeover of February 1, but the party brass has steered clear of any decision which could undermine its political credentials.

The four-point decision at the end of a fiery daylong debate has pointed at the need to “take note of the constitutional process and reactivate the system when it comes to controlling corruption and restoring lasting peace.”

This comes in reference to the Royal proclamation in which a strong commitment has been expressed to fight the menace of corruption in public life by meting out fitting punishment on the spot.

The party, which has been all along stressing the need for national consensus before embarking on the path of socio-economic and political transformation, has also looked into the current state of “unexpected affairs” as something which has created hurdles.

Saying that the RPP was troubled by the latest events, the party insisted that it were the political parties which represent the people and that the party thinks that is it was

absolutely essential to take the parties in confidence when it comes to run the democratic set-up. Pro-parliamentary parties which have resented the February 1 move include Nepali Congress (NC), the CPN-UML, the RPP, the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) and Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi). “We urge the King to initiate the process of dialogue with the parties before seeking consensus and working in tandem,” the RPP statement read.

In another repudiation of the latest events, the party also reinforced the need on part of the King to translate commitment related to constitutional monarchy, multiparty democracy into action.

Party president Pashupati Shumsher Rana has requested for the release of political detainees. On the other hand, central member Jagat Gauchan and several others contested his stance, saying there was no alternative to backing the royal move in the light of the failure on part of the pro-parliamentary forces. “We believe what was done was the right thing,” Gauchan told The Himalayan Times.

Gauchan claimed that those who stood behind him comprised Pratibha Rana, Pratap Lohar, Prem Bahadur Bhandari, Bhuwan Pathak, Ram Krishna Acharya, Krishna Charan Shrestha, Durga Shrestha, Bikram Pandey and vice-president of the party, Padma Sundar Lawoti.

Those who were strictly against any support to royal move comprised Khemraj Pandit, Mohan Raj Malla, Toran Gurung, Chetra Gurung and Kamal Thapa. Biswabandhu Thapa too resented the view that the party should back the King.