Nobody ran against Rabi Lamichhane. That made him president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) again, at the party’s first national general convention in Chitwan. Bhuvan KC, who heads the RSP Central Election Commission, said the commission declared him elected unopposed because his was the only candidacy filed.
Lamichhane had registered earlier with Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah, the party’s senior leader, as his proposer. A candidate for president needs one proposer and 51 supporters.
Nomination forms for the Central Committee were handed out the same day. The party constitution exempts the president and the senior leader from the committee vote, but the other 99 members have to be elected at the convention. The first round of voting for the presidency and committee seats starts the next morning. Exact timings were not announced. KC said results for that round will come two hours after polls close.
A report titled “From Zero to Singha Durbar in Four Years”
Lamichhane also presented his political report to the convention in a closed session. It covers the party’s purpose, its objectives and its course over the past four years.
He said the founders mostly did not come from traditional politics. They came from the media, the professions and other social sectors, where they had questioned the state and pushed for reforms. The report says they eventually concluded that the state machinery had become totally unresponsive, and that real change meant entering the system itself.
It blames power-centric politics, corruption, a lack of accountability, opportunism and the influence of middlemen for severe damage to democracy. Democracy, it says, is “stifled by leaderocracy (netatantra)” and “manipulated by middlemen.” The ‘Naya Shakti’ and ‘Bibeksheel’ campaigns made political waves, Lamichhane said, but brought no structural change. In his account, Shah’s election as mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City exposed widespread public dissatisfaction with the traditional parties and prepared voters for an alternative.
On the current government under Shah, he said it is taking positive steps toward a state built on good governance, transparency, accountability and development. A section titled “A Government Sowing Trust and Inspiring Hope” lists the administration’s top 10 achievements. Among them are asset investigations of high-ranking officials, consultations on constitutional amendments, reform of political appointments, help for cooperative victims and less room for middlemen.
Social Democracy replaces Constitutional Socialism
Critics have long called the RSP populist and ideologically vague. The report names “Social Democracy” as its ideological goal. When the party formed, it wrote “Constitutional Socialism” into its manifesto and into the preamble to the Jaleshwor meeting. Lamichhane’s report now says treating the constitution as an “ism” is inappropriate. Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai had urged the party to reconsider that stance in the convention’s opening session.
“We believe the state, society and economy should not be driven by a single ideological framework but rather by a combined, balanced and context-specific approach,” the report says.
Five pillars support the new ideology: a competitive liberal economy, rule of law, accountable government, a welfare state, and an equitable and inclusive society.
Lamichhane repeated the party’s positions on constitutional change. He wants a directly elected executive for stability and a fully proportional voting system to hold down election costs. His proposals would also restructure provincial assemblies and turn the National Assembly into a non-partisan house of experts.
