KATHMANDU, Oct 20: The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) intensified protests in various parts of the country including federal capital Kathmandu, Pokhara and Birgunj on Saturday after the arrest of the party’s Chairman Rabi Lamichhane from Kathmandu on Friday evening. Lamichhane was arrested from the party’s central office after Kaski District Court issued an arrest warrant against him earlier on Friday for his alleged involvement in embezzling the funds of Pokhara-based Surya Darshan Cooperative.
Top leaders from the party including Vice-chairman Swarnim Wagle, Deputy leader of the parliamentary party of the RSP, Biraj Bhakta Shrestha, and former Minister of State, Toshima Karki, poured onto the streets of Pokhara, where former Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Lamichhane reached at 4:30 am on Saturday to face the court on Sunday.
On Saturday afternoon, the RSP held a corner meeting at the Manab Adhikar Chowk in Chipledhunga, and the leaders and cadres of the party also rallied through Mahendrapul (Bhimsen Chowk), Palikhechowk, culminating in a sit-in in front of the District Police Office. They carried placards bearing messages such as ‘we are with you Rabi’, ‘Stop political revenge’, ‘Justice for Rabi’, and ‘Down with the corrupt government’ and chanted slogans against the arrest.
Addressing the corner meeting, RSP Vice-chairman Wagle accused the government of arresting Lamichhane to hide its misrule, corruption and incompetence. He said that the KP Oli-led government arrested Rabi with the aim of harming his popularity and tarnishing the reputation of the RSP.
“The entire nation is dealing with the grief of the recent floods and landslides, victims are without food and water, while the worthless government is enjoying inaction,” he said, “Meanwhile the entire state apparatus including the government has been mobilized to trap one person.”
He also questioned when the government, having arrested Lamichhane who, according to him, was given a ‘clean-chit’ by the parliamentary probe committee, would arrest Nepali Congress lawmaker Dhanraj Gurung and CPN-UML leader Rishikesh Pokharel.
RSP to continue protest against party chairman’s arrest today
RSP Deputy Parliamentary Party Leader Shrestha claimed that the government has plotted a political revenge against Lamichhane as other leaders who were directly implicated in cooperative scams by the parliamentary probe committee have not been arrested.
“There is no rush to catch those who are directly involved in co-operative fraud, the deposited money has not been returned to the victims,” he said, “But this government catches and handcuffs the person who was not found guilty by the parliamentary investigation committee.”
Leaders and supporters of the RSP also assembled at Maitighar Mandala in Kathmandu to stage protests throughout the day against the arrest of Lamichhane. At the protest, people carried placards and shouted slogans such as “Justice to cooperative victims”, “Down with the corrupt government”, “Punish the guilty, free the innocent”, “The government has died”, and “The people are suffering”.
At the same protest, the cadres of the RSP staged a sarcastic demonstration themed “Re 1 Donation Collection” to mock the donation of a plot of land by Bhatbhateni owner Min Bahadur Gurung for the construction of the central office building of the ruling CPN-UML.
Lamichhane, along with the founder chairman of Surya Darshan Cooperative, Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, is being investigated by the Kaski District Police Office for illegally funneling funds from the cooperative into the Gorkha Media Network.
Speaker of the House of Representatives Devraj Ghimire was informed on Saturday afternoon about the arrest of Member of Parliament (MP) Rabi Lamichhane on Friday evening in line with the constitutional provision that if any lawmaker is arrested, the authority making such arrest shall forthwith give information thereof to the person presiding over the concerned House.
Lamichhane’s arrest draws mixed reaction from political leaders
Leaders across a number of political parties reacted in starkly different manners on Saturday to the arrest of RSP Chairman Lamichhane.
Although a meeting of leaders from the opposition parties on Friday evening had committed to join forces in protesting the arrest of the former home minister, the chairman of the major opposition party CPN (Maoist Center) Pushpa Kamal Dahal surprisingly opted not to speak on the issue on Saturday.
Chairman of Janmat Party, CK Raut, termed Lamichhane’s arrest a political vendetta. “I can only describe the arrest of Rabi, the chairman of a new national party with 21 seats, as an act of political vendetta and repression,” he said, “This action undermines a promising future and attempts to thwart the golden prospects of the next generation at its inception.”
He added that despite the differences in the parties’ bases, agendas, and opposition to each other in certain areas, both the RSP and the Janamat Party agree that there should not be politics of revenge and repression in a democracy.
He expressed hope that Lamichhane will successfully navigate the current situation. Raut also stated that those in power, including the parties in government and their top leaders, have been misusing laws.
CPN-UML lawmaker Surya Thapa who led the parliamentary committee formed to investigate the embezzlement of cooperative savings took to Facebook to sarcastically comment on the arrest that the ‘Clean Chit and Acquittal’ movie had flopped following the arrest of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Lamichhane.
Thapa wrote on Facebook, “The 'Clean Chit and Acquittal' movie has flopped everywhere within days, and now a talentless new play called 'Revenge' is being staged!”
Meanwhile, Chairman of CPN, Netra Bikram Chand, demeaned the RSP and downplayed Lamichhane’s arrest by referring to the RSP while claiming that it is not possible for any party born overnight to benefit the country and the people.
