Surya Bahadur Thapa

Surya Bahadur Thapa (सूर्य बहादुर थापा; March 21, 1928 – April 15, 2015) was a Nepali politician and a five-time Prime Minister of Nepal.

He served under three different kings in a political career lasting more than 50 years.

Surya Bahadur Thapa was born on March 21, 1928, in the village of Muga in Dhankuta district.

He began his political career in the underground student movement in 1950.

Thapa was selected as a member of advisory council in 1958 and was elected as the chairperson.

In November 1958, he was selected to the national assembly as an independent, and became Chairman of the Advisory Council.

Later he was appointed to the Upper house in 1959 and was appointed to the chair of the Council of Ministers from 1963 to 1964.

In 1959, Thapa was elected to the Upper House.

He was appointed Minister of Agriculture, Forest and Industry under the newly formed Panchayat system.

Subsequently, he served as Member of National Legislature and Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs.

He was responsible for expanding the coverage of the constitution of 1962, and promulgated its second amendment to make it "people oriented".

Despite not even standing for election in 1963, Thapa was nominated to the National Panchyat by King Mahendra and was appointed chair of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Finance, Law, Justice and General Administration.

During this period he was instrumental in abolishing "Land-Birta-System" and set strategies to promote land reform by consolidating tenancy rights of the tenants.

Thapa was responsible for "Muluki-Ain", through which he attempted to eradicate the practice of an untouchable caste and promote women's suffrage, among other social activism.

He went on to serve four further terms: 1965–69, 1979–83, 1997–98, and again in 2003 before leaving his Rastriya Prajatantra Party in November 2004.

Surya Bahadur Thapa was the first Prime Minister under the Panchayat System of Nepal.

In his later years, he was the leader of Rastriya Janashakti Party.

In 1966, Thapa was again appointed Prime Minister under the modified Constitution of Nepal.

In 1967, Thapa tendered his resignation, saying that the long tenure of one prime minister was undemocratic in the development of the country.

In October 1972, Thapa was arrested and imprisoned in Nakhhu Jail when he demanded political reform in his Itum-Bahal public address.

The speech promoted a 13-point resolution, which included democratic changes in the Constitution and restoring rights to the people with democratic elections.

He went on a 21-day hunger strike in March 1974, demanding major political reform in the country.

After pro-democracy demonstrations in 1979, Nepali voters chose to uphold the Panchayat system in a referendum in 1980, and King Birendra appointed Thapa Prime Minister on June 1, 1980.

The referendum was accompanied by a general amnesty for political prisoners.

Thapa maintained the position through a parliamentary election in 1981.

After serving a further two years, he resigned in 1983 when his government lost a no confidence vote.

Between 1983 and 1990, Thapa often spoke on politics, criticizing those who were against democratic reform and urging the strengthening of political and economic development processes in the country.

Thapa's statements were quoted in many leading national newspapers.

There was an attempt to assassinate one of the editors (Padam Thakurathi) who published Thapa's views.

An attempt was made to assassinate Thapa himself while he was traveling through Jhallari, West Nepal.

In 1990, the People's Movement led to the institution of a constitutional democracy system of government with multiple political parties.

Thapa started the Rastriya Prajantra Party (RPP) and was elected chairman of the party four years later.

The party did not win the 1991 or 1994 elections, but after two successive governments suffered no-confidence motions within a year, King Birendra asked Thapa to form a new coalition government on October 7, 1997.

The next February, Thapa's government survived a no-confidence vote, ending the year-long constitutional crisis.

Thapa then conceded the prime ministership to his coalition partner, Girija Prasad Koirala of the Nepali Congress.

In 2002, Thapa presided over the Third National Convention of RPP in Pokhara which paved the way for new leadership within the RPP Party.

In June 2003, he was appointed Prime Minister of Nepal for the sixth time.

During this tenure as prime Minister, he also held the Defense Minister position.

Under Thapa, the government offered women special reservations and quotas in government for the first time, via the Public Service Commission.

He died on 15 April 2015 from respiratory failure while undergoing surgery.