Since Chairman Lamichhane is still imprisoned, RSP is led by Make-Do

Rabi Lamichhane, the chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), lost both his seat as a Member of Parliament (MP) and his role as the party’s chairman when a charge sheet was filed against him in the District Court of Kaski on Sunday for organized crime, money laundering, and cooperative fraud. Vice Chairman Dol Prasad (DP) Aryal was then named acting chairman at the party’s secretariat meeting on Monday.

The RSP now manages the responsibilities of important office bearers in an acting capacity. With Joint General Secretary Kabindra Burlakoti acting as the acting General Secretary and Joint Spokesperson Manish Jha acting as the Acting Spokesperson, the party has temporarily filled the position of General Secretary. Following the dismissal of founding General Secretary and spokesperson Dr. Mukul Dhakal, Burlakoti and Jha assumed these duties.

Although political experts describe the RSP’s leadership instability as a feature of a “infant party,” they have also used the party’s unusual formation to imply that the nomination of caretaker leadership has thrown the party’s future into disarray.

Since the RSP founded a party around chair Lamichhane rather than following the traditional institutionalization of a social campaign into a political party, political expert Uddhab Pyakurel informed Republica that the absence of the party’s leader highlights the party’s structural flaws.

“Social movements are based on ideas, but the RSP was founded on chair Lamichhane, which implies that the party’s weakness might be revealed by the temporary leadership in his absence,” Pyakurel stated. “RSP was created by building up animosity toward political parties and the media, whereas social movements are typically formalized into political parties.” He went on to say that since Lamichhane is associated with the RSP, his absence raises doubts about the party’s continued existence.

Political analyst Chandra Dev Bhatta claims that the party’s make-do leadership will influence its decision-making and highlight its internal ambiguity. He told Republica, “The current leadership, which consists of acting positions, is just make-do because the RSP has not yet held its general convention. This kind of leadership affects the party’s decision-making and exhibits the lack of clarity in the party’s leadership.”

On October 18, RSP Chairman Lamichhane was taken into custody on suspicion of embezzling money from a number of cooperatives, including The Supreme Cooperatives in Butwal, Sahara Cooperatives in Chitwan, Sano Paila Cooperative in Parsa, Swarna Laxmi in Kathmandu, and Surya Darshan in Pokhara. Following his arrest, he was taken to Pokhara and is currently being held in judicial custody at the Kaski District Police Office.

The charge sheet was registered in the District Court after the police filed a report, totaling more than 400 pages, with the Kaski District Government Attorney’s Office. Following the filing of the charge sheet, Lamichhane, who had not named an acting chairman throughout his two months in police arrest, named Aryal as the acting chairman.

In the meantime, General Secretary Dr. Mukul Dhakal was dismissed for challenging party leadership and making critiques and recommendations regarding the party’s future. Dhakal had earlier visited 39 areas and provided the party with a 32-page report. Dhakal was expelled and his responsibilities were transferred to an acting official after the RSP leadership determined that these criticisms and recommendations were false. Consequently, the Rastriya Swatantra Party is currently run by caretaker authorities.