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NepalOther Political Parties
There was a phenomenal rise in the number of political
parties-
-particularly between May and September 1990--as strategic
maneuvers to participate in parliamentary elections and
find a
niche in postelection Nepal occurred. The Nepal Sadbhavana
Party
(Good Will Party), one of several regional and ethnic
parties, was
founded in April 1990. It aimed at promoting the interests
of the
Tarai Region, including the expulsion of the Hill people
from Tarai
and the establishment of a special relationship with India
in the
framework of nonalignment. A forum for people of Indian
descent,
the party also favored the introduction of Hindi as the
second
national language. Its ideology supported a democratic
socialist
society. Other Tarai Region parties included the Nepal
Tarai Unity
Forum, the Nepal Tarai Association, and the Nepal Tarai
Muslim
Congress Party.
Among the several ethnic parties were the National
People's
Liberation Front (Nepal Rashtriya Jana Mukti Morcha), the
National
Mongol Organization (Rashtriya Mongol Sanghatan),
SETAMAGURALI (an
acronym of names of different ethnic groups of eastern
Nepal
including the Tamang, Magar, and Gurung), the Front of the
Kirat
Aborigines (Nepal Kirat Adhibasi Janajiti Morch), the
Freedom Front
of the Limbu People (Limbuwan Mukli Morcha), and the Nepal
Nationalist Gorkha Parishad, or Parishad (Nepal
Rashtrabadi Gorkha
Parishad). The Parishad, revived in September 1990, was
founded in
1951 as part of Rana revivalist politics and had placed
second in
the 1959 general elections. Some of its senior leaders
later joined
the Nepali Congress or pancha camps.
Of those groups favoring the monarchy, two conservative
parties
received considerable attention. Hastily founded by two
former
prime ministers, both parties were called the National
Democratic
Party--suffixed with the names Thapa or Chand enclosed
within
brackets. Other parties of this political bent included
the
National Democratic Unity Panchayat Party (Rashtriya
Prajatantrik
Ekata Panchayat Party), Nepal Welfare Party (Nepal Janahit
Party),
United Democratic Party (Samyukti Prajatantra Party), and
Nepal
Panchayat Council (Nepal Panchayat Parishad).
Besides the Nepali Congress Party, fifteen centrist
parties
also had emerged. Most of these parties were founded by
former
members of the Nepali Congress Party and defecting
pancha
who had shifted allegiance to the multiparty system. The
Women's
Democratic Party aimed at promoting the rights, interests,
and
freedoms of Nepalese women.
Data as of September 1991
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