Skip to main content

RPP, RPP-N unify, raise possibility of stark change in politics

By: Nabin Khatiwada

As Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N), the fourth largest party and a crucial component of the parliamentary opposition, declared unification on Monday with Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), one of the parties in the ruling coalition, national politics could witness some dramatic changes in the near future.

The unification process between the two parties had received a jolt in August when RPP decided to join the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government and RPP-N decided to remain in the opposition. In the following two months, the two parties started fresh initiatives for unification and they reached a final deal last week. The unified party will carry the name of RPP and the flag of RPP-N. 

Following the unification, RPP will be an influential fourth largest party with 36 seats in Parliament.

"Following the unification, all the parliamentarians elected from RPP-N will sit in the ruling benches from tomorrow. We are no longer in the opposition. Our unification will further strengthen the present coalition," said Mohan Shrestha, central committee member of the unified party and former deputy spokesperson of RPP-N.

The unification could have greater impact on the move of present ruling coalition to amend the constitution than on the coalition itself. While electing Pushpa Kamal Dahal prime minister, there were 370 lawmakers in the ruling coalition. As CPN (Maoist Center) lawmaker Bhakti Prasad Pandey passed away last week, there were 369 lawmakers remaining in the ruling coalition. With 25 lawmakers from the erstwhile RPP-N now joining the ruling coalition, the number swells to 394. This is just two short of the number needed for a two-thirds majority of the existing 594 seats in Parliament.

If the numbers alone are considered, the ruling coalition has the probability of garnering the two-third majority in Parliament required for a constitutional amendment as only the main opposition CPN (UML), the CPN (ML), Nepal Workers Peasants Party and Rastriya Janamorcha are clearly against amendment.

"The central executive committee and the central committee of the unified party will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday to make clear its stance on the issue of constitutional amendment. However, it is clear that we'll remain flexible over amendment matters," said Shrestha. 

Hinting at the present political deadlock while speaking at the party unification function in Kathmandu, Monday, party executive chairman Thapa said that constitution implementation will not move forward unless the issues related to Madhes are resolved. "If the issues of Madhes are not addressed on time, constitution implementation could hit a jolt. We should be flexible and rise above party interests," said Thapa.

The unification could to some extent rekindle the agenda of reinstating Nepal as a Hindu state but it depends on how the unified party puts forth the agenda in the course of the amendment.

The unified party has declared Pashupati SJB Rana as its national chairman and Kamal Thapa as executive chairman.  Lokendra Bahadur Chand, Bishwa Bandhu Thapa and Dr Prakash Chandra Lohani are senior leaders on the 300-member central committee.

Published: 22-11-2016

http://www.myrepublica.com/news/9602

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

India Government raises grant for Nepal by 17 percent

India Government raises grant for Nepal by 17 percent The Indian government has pledged to extend 17 percent more in financial aid to Nepal in the next fiscal year, indicating greater enthusiasm of the southern neighbour to support the landlocked country’s development endeavours. The Indian government has allocated a grant of IRs3.75 billion (Rs6 billion) for Nepal in 2017-18, as against IRs3.20 in 2016-17. The allocation was made through the Union Budget 2017-18 launched by Indian Finance Minister Arjun Jaitely on Wednesday.  In addition to the amount, India has also pledged to extend a grant of IRs113.30 million to Nepal Police Academy in 2017-18, the Indian budget document says. The grant pledged for Nepal in 2017-18 is second highest among South Asian countries, with Bhutan leading the pack. The Indian government has expressed commitment to extend IRs37.14 billion in grant to Bhutan in 2017-18. The amount, however, is 4 percent lower than in 2016-17. In total, Ind...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nepal to discuss new power trade guidelines with India

The Energy Ministry is planning to hold talks with the Indian Power Ministry over its recently issued discriminatory guidelines on cross-border power trade which prohibit private and third country hydropower developers in Nepal from exporting electricity to India with a one-time approval. According to the Guidelines on Cross-Border Trade of Electricity published by the Indian government last Monday, only companies in Nepal which are wholly owned by the Indian government or the public sector, or private companies with a 51 percent or higher Indian stake would be eligible to export power to India. These companies will be given a one-time approval to sell power to India, according to the guidelines. Also, companies owned or controlled by the Nepali government will be allowed to sell power to India after getting a one-time approval from the Indian authorities, according to the new rules. However, private companies owned by Nepali or third country developers wishing to export power to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Protests, clashes in Province 5 districts over demarcations

With the government bent on tabling the constitution amendment bill in parliament, protests have intensified again in various districts of western and mid-western regions after a gap of few days. Protests that had been toned down earlier in view of the hardships caused to the locals, have now been intensified from Friday with an announcement of a three-day general strike in all districts of Province 5. 'Joint struggle committees' comprising leaders of major political parties in the districts--Nawalparasi, Rupandehi, Kapilvastu, Dang, Banke, Bardiya, Rukum, Rolpa, Pyuthan, Arghakhanchi, Gulmi and Palpa--announced the strike against government preparations to table the amendment proposal in parliament. The strike has largely affected vehicular movement while schools, government offices, factories and markets remained closed.  Tensions ran high in Gulmi, Nepalgunj of Banke and Rolpa after the protestors prevented locals from using all kinds of vehicles. Over 24 prot...
Post a Comment
Read more