Kathmandu, April 26 (IANS) Nepal's only royalist party fired a salvo at the beleaguered government on Tuesday, warning that it would not allow the deadline for drafting the new constitution to be extended a second time and demanded fresh elections.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-Nepal), led by former Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa, also said it would begin a protest action from Friday, warning Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal not to try to extend the deadline for drafting the new constitution which expires in 31 days.
Thapa, who was home minister when Nepal's last king Gyanendra grabbed power through a bloodless coup in 2005 and triggered nationwide protests that led to the abolition of the monarchy in the world's only Hindu kingdom, said any effort to extend the May 28 deadline would prompt his party to launch a retaliatory movement.
'We consider repeated attempts to extend the deadline as an attack on the people's rights and democracy,' Thapa said.
After King Gyanendra's fall in 2006, Nepal held a historic election two years later to choose a constituent assembly mandated to draft a new constitution by May 28, 2010.
However, as the major parties remained deadlocked in an unending tussle over power, the house of 601 members could not complete its task last year and an unprecedented constitutional crisis was narrowly avoided by amending the interim constitution and extending its term by another year.
Now with the extended deadline fast approaching, the parties remain locked in the same disputes and the constitution is still far from ready.
The ruling parties - the communists and their allies, the Maoists - reportedly plan to either extend the deadline again or produce a mini-constitution by May 28.
The prime minister has indicated this month in public programmes that there is a possibility for such an extension, saying the constituent assembly will not be dissolved until the task is completed.
By implication, if the house does not complete its task by May 28, it will be dissolved. Fresh elections should then be held to choose its successor.
The royalists, who seek restoration of the monarchy and Hinduism as the state religion, feel emboldened by the fact that the formal abolition of the monarchy in 2008 made a large number of people sympathetic towards it. They feel fresh elections will lead to the deposed king's return.
It has sought a referendum on reinstating the crown and launched a signature campaign, both of which have been ignored by the ruling parties.
(Sudeshna Sarkar can be contacted at [email protected])