US embassy cable - 03KATHMANDU1033

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001033 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR SA/INS 
LONDON FOR POL - GURNEY 
NSC FOR MILLARD 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/03/2013 
TAGS: PGOV, NP, Government of Nepal (GON) 
SUBJECT: NEPAL:  KING NAMES NEW PRIME MINISTER 
 
REF: KATHMANDU 1011 
 
Classified By: CDA ROBERT K. BOGGS.  REASON:  1.5 (B,D). 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (C)  On June 4 King Gyanendra named former National 
Democratic Party President and four-time former Prime 
Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa to head a new interim 
government.  The Palace is reportedly seeking the 
participation of other mainstream political parties in the 
Cabinet.  Many observers blame Indian intervention for 
scuttling the nomination of Madhav Kumar Nepal, General 
Secretary of the Communist Party of Nepal - United Marxist 
 
SIPDIS 
Leninist (UML).  Although the five political parties that had 
been agitating against the King are withholding official 
statements until after a joint meeting on June 5, initial 
reactions from the three largest have been universally 
negative.  An updated biography of Thapa will be sent septel. 
 End summary. 
 
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CONSENSUS OR NOT, 
WE HAVE A CANDIDATE 
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2.  (C)  At 5:00 p.m. local time on June 4, the National News 
Service announced that King Gyanendra had appointed former 
National Democratic Party President and four-time former 
Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa as the "consensus 
candidate" to head a new interim government.  (Note:  Three 
of Thapa's four terms as PM were during the autocratic 
Panchayat era.  End note.)  Prabhakar Rana, confidant and 
business partner of King Gyanendra, had alerted the Charge 
that morning of the impending announcement, adding that 
several other Cabinet posts might be named at the same time. 
 
3.  (C)  Rana expressed confidence that the Nepali Congress 
would join a Cabinet headed by Thapa.  The party had never 
been "internally comfortable" with its backing of Communist 
Party of Nepal - United Marxist Leninist (UML) General 
Secretary Madhav Nepal, Rana said, and has since indicated to 
 
SIPDIS 
the Palace that it might join an all-party government headed 
by Thapa.  (Note:  We have since heard that at least one 
renegade member of the Nepali Congress, who has been on the 
outs with party leadership for some time, may be tapped.  End 
note.) 
 
4.  (C)  Charge was also contacted by N.N. Yadav, a member of 
the factionalized Nepal Sadbhavana Party.  (Note:  The 
Sadbhavana Party, which commanded all of five MPs in the 
former Parliament, split after its Acting President, Badri 
Prasad Mandal, joined the interim government under former 
Prime Minister Chand.  Mandal's faction--which can still lay 
claim to recognition by the Election Commission--commands 
just two of the five former MPs.  End note.)  Yadav predicted 
that the political parties will support Thapa's nomination, 
citing his creditable record as a democrat.  Nepal's 
candidacy as PM was never a real possibility, Yadav said, 
because of Indian opposition to him.  Thapa, in contrast, 
enjoys substantial Indian support, Yadav claimed. 
 
5.  (C)  UML Central Committee member Jhala Nath Khanal told 
poloff that the UML is obviously displeased by the King's 
decision to disregard its leader's nomination.  The King may 
also make several of his own appointments to the Cabinet, he 
predicted glumly.  (Note: Police sources say they expect UML 
Central Committee member K.P. Oli, who opposed Nepal for the 
party leadership, to be named as Deputy Prime Minister. 
Nepal and Oli are personal and political rivals.  End note.) 
If so, the UML will not agree to take part in the new 
all-party government.  The Palace may attempt to entice party 
members into the new government, but the parties would then 
revoke those renegades' membership, Khanal said.  The party's 
Standing Committee will decide its official position later 
this evening. 
 
6.  (C)  Nepali Congress spokesman Arjun Narasingh K.C. told 
poloff that his party would not participate in a government 
under Chand.  A Thapa government appointed by the King will 
offer "the same old scenario" as under the Chand government. 
The five parties that had demanded an all-party government 
and had proposed Nepal's nomination will meet on June 5 to 
plan next steps, K.C. said.  Nepali Congress (Democratic) 
Central Committee member Sagar SJB Rana also informed poloff 
that his party had decided to back Nepal's nomination and was 
thus equally unlikely to take part in a Thapa Cabinet.  The 
Palace never offered any explanation for why Nepal's 
nomination was not accepted, representatives of all three 
parties reported. 
 
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INDIA TAKES A NEIGHBORLY INTEREST? 
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7.  (C) Most sources contacted--with the exception of royal 
confidant Prabhakar Rana--speculate that Indian influence was 
the main reason that Nepal's nomination was rejected and 
Thapa's promoted.  Many saw Thapa's mid-April visit to India 
as significant.  Some also cited the visit of former Indian 
Ambassador to Nepal K.B. Rajan, which coincides with the May 
30 resignation of PM Chand and Thapa's June 4 appointment. 
Another recent visitor to Nepal, Professor S.D. Muni, an 
Indian academic with long-time experience in Nepal who 
maintains links to MEA, had a lengthy meeting with Baburam 
Bhattarai on April 25--directly after emboffs met him.  When 
asked why he thought Nepal's nomination had not been 
accepted, UML member Khanal immediately pointed to "the 
visits by our neighbors."  Other Palace sources claimed 
strong Indian opposition to Nepal had helped scuttle his 
nomination.  (Note:  We have no way of knowing whether any of 
these claims are true, but they have enough popular currency 
to bear mentioning.  End note.) 
 
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COMMENT 
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8.  (C) Madhav Nepal may have been unacceptable to the Palace 
for a number of reasons, not the least of which may be the 
prominent role he played in recent, near-daily protests 
against the King.  Despite receiving the backing of five of 
the seven political parties whose consensus the King sought, 
Nepal had enough other opposition from influential 
quarters--including, apparently, from the Indians, the 
Maoists, and the Palace itself--to quash his candidacy. 
Initial reactions from the biggest parties (the UML, the 
Nepali Congress, and the Nepali Congress (D)) do not bode 
well for efforts to form the all-party Cabinet sought by the 
Palace, demanded by the parties, and hoped for by donors. 
 
 
BOGGS