Rabi Lamichhane will remain president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party without a single vote being cast for the top job. The Central Election Commission declared him elected unopposed after his was the only name submitted for the position. The announcement came Saturday at the party’s first national general convention in Chitwan.
Bhuvan KC, who heads the RSP Central Election Commission, confirmed Lamichhane had no challenger. The party’s constitution requires a presidential candidate to have one proposer and a set number of supporters.
Prime Minister Balendra Shah — known widely as Balen Shah — served as Lamichhane’s proposer when he formally registered his candidacy. That detail matters. Shah is the party’s senior leader, a title that, like the presidency, comes with an automatic seat on the Central Committee.
No election needed for either man. But the rest of the committee must be chosen through a vote, and that process started with the distribution of nomination forms at the convention.
The first round of balloting for the Central Committee seats and the party presidency — effectively settled already — begins Sunday morning. Exact times have not been released. KC said results for the opening round will come after polls close, meaning party members will wait to learn who fills the remaining slots.
Lamichhane also delivered his political report during a closed session of the convention earlier in the day. The document, described as comprehensive, lays out the party’s core purpose. What exactly it says remains inside the room for now.
This convention was always going to be a test. The RSP is a young party, born out of the 2022 general election, and this is its first national gathering.
Lamichhane’s uncontested re-election signals internal unity at the top, at least publicly. But the real contest is for the Central Committee seats. Multiple candidates are competing for a limited number of positions.
That vote will reveal the party’s internal factions and alliances. The setup is unusual for a party that has positioned itself as an outsider force in Nepali politics.
Lamichhane, a former television host, built the RSP on a platform of anti-corruption and technocratic governance. The party won 20 seats in the House of Representatives in its first election, a strong showing that made it a kingmaker in coalition governments. But governing has meant compromises.
Lamichhane himself served as deputy prime minister and home minister in a coalition led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). That tenure ended amid controversy, including a parliamentary probe into cooperative fraud allegations that he has denied. The convention in Chitwan is Lamichhane’s chance to reset the narrative.
Running unopposed for president lets him project control. The political report he presented is meant to define the party’s ideology and strategy going forward.
Whether the Central Committee elections produce a slate that backs him or a bloc that challenges him is the open question. For now, the party’s structure is clear at the top and uncertain below. The ballot boxes will tell the rest.
