Rastriya Prajatantra Party Chairman Rajendra Lingden on Friday said that there are divergent views in the party over the recent election of Speaker of the Koshi Provincial Assembly.

Ambar Bahadur Bista of the RPP was elected the Speaker of the province with the support of major parties like the Nepali Congress and the CPN-UML. His election on Tuesday courted controversy in the RPP despite his unopposed nomination.

Prakash Chandra Lohani of the party’s central advisory committee had asked Bista to resign in view of the dispute. The party professes a policy of anti-federalism, pro-monarchy and anti-secularism and is going to launch nationwide agitation in February-end. However, party leaders said Lingden had instructed Bista to contest the post citing that the party already had its Speaker in Bagmati Assembly too. Koshi is Lingden’s home province.

Speaking to reporters after marking king Prithvi Narayan Shah's birth anniversary in Kathmandu, Lingden said there are varying opinions among party leaders on whether to take the Koshi Speaker position. Party leaders like Lohani, Rabindra Mishra and Dhawal Sumsher Rana, among others, called for rejecting the offer of Speaker in Koshi.

Some argue that the party should not have accepted the post of Speaker for its anti-federal stance, right ahead of launching the nationwide agitation against the federal system, Lingden said. “Some say the party was right to take it.”

The next meeting of the party's central working committee will discuss the issue and reach a conclusion, he said. Lingden said the development happened when he was out of the country.

The party chief said their upcoming agitation would be Kathmandu-centric. It will be peaceful, aimed at building pressure on the government and other political parties to correct the flaws in the system institutionalised by the 2015 constitution. Those political parties supporting republicanism and the former king should come together and form a new understanding.

“The country’s situation is getting worse day by day but no one is trying to reverse it. Our proposal is to directly elect the prime minister while the [reinstated] king’s role would be like that of a guardian. By dissolving the provinces, let's strengthen the centre and the local level,” said Lingden.

Though the RPP has not declared the date of its agitation, Lingden said the party will hold a protest that will force the major parties to a course correction.

“We are planning to hold a mega protest and demonstration that will bring a change in the country. The country’s situation is getting so bad that we cannot wait until the next election. In this critical situation, major political parties should bring all forces together to stop further damage to the nation,” he added.

“The RPP is not taking the country on a regressive path by speaking for the restoration of the Hindu state, monarchy and scrapping federalism. We are not talking about restoring the old regime. But this new system has failed to address the problems that the country is facing. Let’s go for a new understanding between those who favour republicanism and the former king.”

Lingden also suggested bringing down the number of elected representatives.