KATHMANDU, Aug 20: As internal disputes within the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) intensify, party President Rabi Lamichhane has reiterated that there is no problem between him and Prime Minister and senior party leader Balendra Shah (Balen).
Lamichhane made the claim during a meeting of RSP lawmakers and ministers held at the party’s Parliamentary Party office in Singha Durbar on Wednesday. Shah, the parliamentary party leader and prime minister, was absent from the meeting.
While Lamichhane and Shah have been stepping up separate meetings and consultations within the party amid dissatisfaction with each other’s working styles, Lamichhane urged the media not to read too much into Shah’s recent social media post in which the prime minister said he felt ‘alone’.
“Balenji is a poet, and he is also an artist,” Lamichhane told reporters after the meeting. “Even in such a huge crowd, can’t I feel lonely today? Of course, I can. So it’s not like that. If we start searching for meanings in every single word, we will get nowhere. The entire party is standing together. Where is he alone?”
According to sources, however, Shah has been telling his close aides that Lamichhane has prevented him from reshuffling the Cabinet. Shah is also reportedly unhappy that party intervention has made it difficult for the government to function effectively.
Balen Shah urges his elated supporters to stay calm as he lands...
Lamichhane, too, is said to be dissatisfied with the government’s performance and has urged the prime minister to change his working style. Sources claim that after Shah refused to heed the request, Lamichhane had a lawmaker close to him tell the prime minister in Parliament to “take off his black sunglasses”—a remark apparently intended to urge him to see the situation more clearly.
Leaders close to Shah, meanwhile, accuse Lamichhane of being eager to lead the government himself. They allege that Lamichhane has been manoeuvring around the party’s general convention and statute to create an environment conducive to that goal.
Lamichhane rejects the allegations. He says the party’s internal adjustment process was completed after the general convention and that, under the authority granted to the chairperson by the statute, he is gradually bringing capable people into positions of responsibility.
Lamichhane also denied that the RSP has split into two factions.
“This is not a promise that Rabi made to Balen or Balen made to Rabi; it is a promise we made together to history and to the country,” Lamichhane told reporters. “Saying that such minor issues have damaged such a huge political and historic commitment is like saying we disagreed over a small matter with friends at home and started teasing each other. We do not measure and weigh every word before speaking. There is no confusion of any kind among us.”
During Wednesday’s meeting, Lamichhane also advised and instructed ministers and lawmakers on how to conduct government business and present themselves in Parliament. He directed them not to engage in undignified activities or “put on a spectacle".
Statute amendment task force formed
The RSP has begun the process of amending its statute to make its parliamentary party more effective, disciplined and accountable to the public.
An informal meeting of the parliamentary party on Wednesday formed a statute amendment task force under the coordination of Chief Whip Kabindra Burlakoti.
The task force has been given seven days to prepare a draft amendment and working procedures as necessary. According to Parliamentary Party Deputy Leader Ganesh Parajuli, the move is aimed at strengthening the party’s presence in lawmaking, ensuring lawmakers follow parliamentary decorum and making them more conscious of their responsibilities.
RSP leaders said the statute is being revised to better regulate lawmakers’ conduct, discipline and decorum inside Parliament and make them more attentive to their responsibilities.
The amendments will also clarify how the party can make its role in the lawmaking process more effective and mature.
The move comes after Wednesday’s meeting highlighted coordination gaps between ministers and lawmakers. While ministers briefed the meeting on their work and lawmakers raised problems and grievances from their respective constituencies, the lack of coordination between the two sides became apparent.
The party plans to address those shortcomings by clarifying the relevant provisions in the statute and working procedures.
