elections, the parties decided to merge again on 31 December 1999. A group led by Rajeshwar Devkota however decided not to rejoin the party and formed their own Rastriya Prajatantra Party (Nationalist). Direct rule and internal conflicts, 2002–2015 Second Chand and Thapa governments, 2002–2006 The king dismissed the government of Sher Bahadur Deuba in 4 October 2002 after failing to conduct the elections following the dissolution of the House of Representatives on May earlier that year. Lokendra Bahadur Chand was then appointed as prime minister on 11 October 2002. He resigned on 31 May 2003 after protests from opposition parties calling for the restoration of the parliament and the formation of a national consensus government. Chand had also faced accusations from within his party of failing to address these issues. He was replaced by Surya Bahadur Thapa on 5 June 2002. At the third general convention of the party held in Pokhara from 12 to 14 December 2002, Surya Bahadur Thapa completed his second four-year term as party chairman and could not compete for the post of chairman again as per the party constitution. Pashupati SJB Rana was elected chairman during the convention and Padma Sundar Lawati, Kamal Thapa and Rosan Karki were nominated vice-president, general secretary and spokesperson respectively. There were calls within the party for Surya Bahadur Thapa to resign as prime minister for undermining democracy by failing to form a national consensus government. He resigned on 7 May 2004 and was replaced by Nepali Congress (Democratic) leader Sher Bahadur Deuba. On 4 November 2004, Thapa announced that he would be quitting the party and forming a new centre-right liberal party. The party was formally launched on 13 March 2005 as Rastriya Janashakti Party. On 1 February 2005, King Gyanendra dismissed Deuba as prime minister and seized executive powers. The party announced their support for the pro-democracy agitation led by the Seven Party Alliance but ten members of the party's central committee, including Kamal Thapa who had rejoined the party after leaving for Janashakti, supported the coup. Thapa along with six central committee members were appointed to the King's cabinet in December 2005 with Thapa becoming Home Minister. On 10 January 2006, members of the central committee close to Kamal Thapa voted to replace Pashupati SJB Rana as party chairman with Thapa. Thapa's claim as new chairman was dismissed by other members of the party. Thapa's faction of