NEW NEPAL PRIME MINISTER ASKS U.S. FOR

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 001071

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LONDON FOR POL CHARLES GURNEY
NSC FOR E.MILLARD

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/10/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV NEPAL'>NP
SUBJECT: NEW NEPAL PRIME MINISTER ASKS U.S. FOR
UNDERSTANDING AND PATIENCE

REF: KATHMANDU 1060

Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES ROBERT K. BOGGS. REASONS: 1.5 (B) AND
(D)


1. (C) Summary. NEPAL's Foreign Secretary, Madhu Raman
Acharya, convoked the Charge' privately on June 10 under
instructions from the new Prime Minister and Acting Foreign
Minister, Surya Bahadur Thapa. The Secretary explained the
PM's current efforts to persuade the major political parties
to participate a new cabinet and to request USG patience as
he pursues this politically difficult goal. The Prime
Minister signaled that he will be naming several cabinet
officials on June 11 from his own party, but expects to be
able to add representatives from other parties in coming
weeks. End summary.


2. (C) According to the Foreign Secretary, Prime Minister
Thapa wanted to underscore to the USG that the King's decree
of June 4 appointing Thapa as PM responded to all three of
the principal demands of the major political parties at that
time. These demands were the following: the delegation to
the new PM of full executive powers, a new cabinet appointed
by the PM in consultation with the parties, and
representation in the cabinet by all the parliamentary
parities. Since his appointment, Thapa has paid calls on the
leaders of most of the major political parties. Although
Thapa's invitations to join the new cabinet have been met so
far with refusals, the PM believes that this is just
posturing by the opposition leaders and that in fact they
have signaled some flexibility. In addition to top leaders,
the PM has met with a number of second-echelon members of the
party central committees. The PM reportedly believes that
some serious rethinking is going on within party
policy-making circles and is confident that the parties will
in time join his government. In the meantime, the PM is
adhering to a policy of not alienating the parties further,
making no derogatory statements about them and not permitting
excessive use of force against party demonstrations.


3. (C) On the afternoon of June 11, Acharya said, the PM will
announce his choices for ministers for a very small cabinet.
Some 3-5 members of the PM's own National Democratic Party
(RPP) will be chosen to run the government "for the time
being." PM Thapa intends to "keep the door open" for further
appointments, and will reserve the right to shift portfolios
as new ministers are added. The PM's political priorities
will be to pursue peace negotiations with the Maoists to a
successful conclusion, hold parliamentary and local-level
elections, maintain continuity in NEPAL's foreign policy,
fight corruption and strengthen governance.


4. (C) The Foreign Secretary enumerated a number of ways in
which NEPAL's political environment allegedly had improved
since Thapa's appointment on June 4. The parties, he
asserted, have become reconciled to the fact that the new
prime minister is another monarchical appointee rather than
the candidate of their choice. The party leaders, he also
claimed, realize that their street agitations are not
generating popular support nor going anywhere politically.
Some NEPALi Congress leaders, Acharya said, already
acknowledge that PM Thapa is an improvement over his
predecessor. One advantage that Thapa enjoys that was not
true of his predecessor is the full support of his own party.
Of the opposition parties' main current demands--the
announcement of a date for elections or the reinstatement of
the House of Representatives--the Maoists would not permit
elections. Acharya would not comment on the prospects for
the resuscitating Parliament. Speaking for himself, the
Secretary said, he suspected that some of the political

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parties would not join the Thapa government but would support
it from outside. In conclusion, Acharya said, the Prime
Minister asked for patience from the USG, since it would take
time for the changed political situation to clarify.


5. (C) Comment. The new Prime Minister's private message to
the USG was clearly self-serving and not particularly
revealing, since rumors of his impending cabinet appointments
have featured widely in the press. It is hard for us to be
as sanguine as the Prime Minister claims to be about his
ultimate success in drawing the main parties into his
government although Kathmandu is rife with rumors that the
NEPALi Congress will join after a few weeks (reftel). The
PM's message is, however, indicative of his energetic and
skillful handling of potential political allies and, in this
case, an important foreign donor.
BOGGS