KATHMANDU, July 30: The internal dispute within the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has moved from the streets to Parliament and now to the party’s central committee meeting. The conflict between RSP President Rabi Lamichhane and Senior Leader and Prime Minister Balendra Shah (Balen) was also visible during the party meeting.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Dr Toshima Karki, Ganesh Karki and other leaders raised questions, alleging that provisions not included in the legislation were inserted after the party’s first general convention. They expressed dissatisfaction over issues including the management of the general convention, election of office-bearers, and the selection process of party officials.
Although the draft party statute was distributed multiple times, questions were raised over a provision stating that the party leader would have to vacate the post if they acted against the policies of the party president. President Lamichhane responded by saying that Balen would remain prime minister for five years and urged party members not to have doubts about it.
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Participants also demanded the formation of an investigation committee, arguing that the general convention did not contain any provision allowing the party president to remove the parliamentary party leader. They alleged that General Secretary Bipin Acharya had inserted such a provision to favour President Lamichhane. The issue also drew attention to an incident at the party’s First General Convention in Chitwan, where separate chits were allegedly distributed to officials aligned with the Balen faction despite repeated objections that such a practice was not allowed.
Amid the disputes, the RSP meeting reviewed the general convention and decided to conduct a comprehensive study of the entire process to make the party organisation more mature and stronger. The party also acknowledged weaknesses at various levels in line with democratic practices. Similarly, the meeting formed the party secretariat in accordance with Article 23 of Section 6 of the party statute.
The secretariat members elected along with the party chairperson include Vice Presidents Dr Swarnim Wagle and Sobita Gautam, General Secretary Bipin Kumar Acharya, and Deputy General Secretaries Asim Shah, Hari Dhakal and Nisha Dangi.
While approving organisational documents, the meeting decided to incorporate amendments and suggestions from central committee members by 5 pm on August 3.
Central committee members and House of Representatives members interested in leading party departments have been asked to submit a six-month work plan with clear objectives and frameworks. To make the work of party ministers more citizen-oriented and improve coordination, the meeting decided that ministers must visit the party office at least once a month to discuss current and multidimensional issues with the central committee.
