Addressing a protest rally in Kathmandu last week, Thapa raised the possibility of restoring the monarchy from the streets. Stressing that the restoration of Hindu nation and the monarchy was no longer solely the RPP agenda, he warned the political parties that the situation could get out of control if they failed to act responsibly on time.
The RPP has been demanding the restoration of monarchy and Hindu state through an all-party conference. Although it won over a dozen seats in the second constituent assembly elections held in 2013, the party was soon perceived as having relegated the monarchy behind Hindu statehood in terms of priority. The party’s eagerness to join successive governments under a republican, secular and federal constitution further eroded public confidence.
Thapa personally came in for much opprobrium from peers and the people at large. When the notoriously schismatic RPP factions united in 2017 taking its contingent in the house to 37, it could barely survive a year. Thapa confidantes blamed Nirmal Niwas for engineering the split, heightening speculation of the monarch’s dissatisfaction with the Thapa’s campaign to restore the monarchy.
By the time the streets began erupting in leaderless protests demanding the return of the monarchy late last year, the disparate organizers were united in denying Thapa and his party any place.
That precipitated much-needed candor from Thapa in a television interview a couple of weeks ago. Confirming that elements close to Nirmal Niwas had conspired against his party in the past, Thapa also had some advice for its principal occupant. The ex-king should exhibit more high-mindedness in reaching out to the political leaders to build an atmosphere conducive to the return of the monarchy in the national interest.
Throughout the interview, Thapa’s dignified language did not conceal his exasperation over what he perceived to be an organized marginalization campaign. As home minister under King Gyanendra’s direct rule, Thapa was responsible for unleashing the state's coercive force against the burgeoning protests, resulting in some two dozen deaths.
Thapa could easily have taken the easy route of some of his ministerial colleagues and blamed the king for not listening to him. Instead, he turned his Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal into the only pro-monarchy organization. With the death of the flamboyant Rabindra Nath Sharma, Thapa became the public face of a campaign considered nothing short of sacrilegious at the time.
During his recent interview, Thapa defended his decision to join K.P. Oli government but said it had been a mistake to join the Pushpa Kamal Dahal administration. Given the public support the Oli government continues to enjoy for its steadfast response to the Indian blockade and initiatives to expand ties with China, Thapa might seem cynical to make that distinction. Still, you have to admit that Thapa rose to the occasion given the prevailing circumstances.
The RPP’s decision to join the Dahal government was not necessarily a mistake. By the same logic of Thapa’s critics, it can be said that the RPP exposed the Maoists’ eagerness to join hands with royalists in a bid to gain power. Still, if the boss admits it was a mistake, the point becomes moot.
What’s not moot is Thapa’s larger but unspoken point. Sure, he made mistakes here and there, which have been illuminated in hindsight. But can you deny that the RPP kept the agenda against republicanism, secularism and federalism alive long enough for the rest of the country to catch on?
Pettiness is perhaps not Thapa’s style – at least not in public. So he eases the pressure on the disparate monarchists flustered by their inability to agree on a road to restoration. King Gyanendra has made it clear that he doesn’t consider it his responsibility to provide a roadmap.
So a referendum, restoration of the 1990 Constitution and amendments to the current one are among alternatives that have muddied the waters. Thapa, a supporter of the third option, has now suggested a fourth as the streets. Intended to bolster his original position, this new one is treacherously ambiguous enough in its application to turn a lot more heads.
