The Rastriya Prajatantra Party has reiterated that any initiative for restoring the monarchy should come only through a broad national consensus, not a referendum.

Releasing the decisions of its three-day central committee meeting that concluded on Friday, the party said it supports a constitutional monarchy and believes that reinstatement of the institution must come through national consensus rather than a referendum or the use of any form of force.

The party said the King it envisions should be a national institution representing all sections of the country, not only the RPP. It argued that such an institution cannot be created by a minority or majority vote but through consensus.

The party said deciding on a shared institution through a majority vote risks constant attempts by the minority to overturn the outcome, further fuelling instability.

The party’s position comes as medical entrepreneur and pro-royalist campaigner Durga Prasain has demanded a referendum on the republican system, which Nepal adopted in 2008 after abolishing the Hindu monarchy.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Sushila Karki, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal and senior officials at the Prime Minister’s Office in Singha Durbar on December 8, Prasain sought a clear response on the issue from the prime minister by December 17.

With this, the RPP and the Prasain-led group have differed in the strategy for the reinstatement of the monarchy, even though they had earlier this year launched a joint movement to revive the Hindu monarchy in Nepal. In March, various pro-monarchy groups formed a committee led by Panchayat-era leader Nabaraj Subedi and launched a joint movement for the restoration of Hindu monarchy in the country.

On the changed political situation, the RPP concludes that the September Gen Z uprising was the outcome of the politics of negation that developed after the 1990 political change, along with rampant corruption, unemployment, the politicisation of constitutional bodies, a scramble for power and foreign relations driven by power interests.

The party says the deep frustration created in society after 35 to 36 years of political leadership by major parties and their leaders turned into an eruption of anger. The RPP says it had long been warning about rising public dissatisfaction and growing resentment towards politics and political leaders.

According to the party, a leaderless and unorganised revolt paralysed the country within hours, exposing how fragile the state had become. The failure to protect key state institutions such as Parliament, President’s Office, Prime Minister’s Office and Supreme Court, among other vital offices, and the damage caused across other infrastructures showed that the political parties and leaders who claimed to have run the country for more than three decades were caught off guard.

“The events revealed the weakness of the current constitution and constitutional order, and demonstrated that even the leaders and parties who framed and defended the constitution have failed,” the party said.

The party says pushing the country forward under the same failed system, without addressing political problems or responding to the demands raised by Gen Z, and going into a general election under such conditions, would drag the country into further conflict.

The party has also endorsed the Central Work Execution Committee’s decision to expel Kanchan Bichchha, a proportional representation member of the Madhesh Province Assembly, from general membership for six months for joining the provincial government against the party’s directive.

She will also be removed from the closed proportional representation list for the women’s category in Madhesh Province. Then Madhesh Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav appointed Bichchha as a minister on November 10, shortly after he was appointed.