Labor Culture Party Secures Surprise Support from RASWAP for Deputy Speaker Position

March 9, Kathmandu. After the formation of the new House of Representatives, Hark Sampang is known as the individual who frequently issues warnings to the RASWAP-led government both inside and outside the parliament. Sampang, who is also the president of the Labor Culture Party, often raises questions on social media about the government’s and RASWAP’s conduct. Despite his party sitting on the opposition benches, RASWAP has decided to support the Labor Culture Party’s candidate for Deputy Speaker.

For the first time entering parliament as a new force, the Labor Culture Party has been awarded the prestigious post of Deputy Speaker in the House of Representatives.

With seven MPs, the party’s candidate Rubi Kumari Thakur is almost certain to secure the Deputy Speaker post because with RASWAP’s support, she garners backing from over two-thirds of the House members.

RASWAP General Secretary Kavindra Burlakoti has confirmed that the alliance among transformative forces after the new elections has resulted in RASWAP supporting the Labor Culture Party.

Since RASWAP holds the Speaker position in the House of Representatives, constitutional provisions require that the Deputy Speaker be from another party and gender group. Based on this, RASWAP engaged in dual deliberations regarding whether to support the Labor Culture Party or the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP).

RPP parliamentary leader Gyanendra Bahadur Shahi met with RASWAP Chairperson Ravi Lamichhane a few days ago to discuss support for the Deputy Speaker candidate. On Thursday, Shahi said he had another discussion with Lamichhane, where he received assurances of support for RPP. Following this, RPP leaders convened a meeting to nominate Saraswati Lama as their candidate for Deputy Speaker.

Meanwhile, RASWAP also was in dialogue with the Labor Culture Party. Hark Sampang held talks with Prime Minister and senior RASWAP leader Balendra Shah. While the RPP meeting was ongoing, RASWAP leaders including Kavindra Burlakoti held discussions with the Labor Culture Party. RASWAP has stated that it was during these discussions that the decision to support the Labor Culture Party was finalized.

When RPP leaders arrived to register the candidacy of Saraswati Lama, Labor Culture Party MPs including Rubi Kumari Thakur were waiting with nomination forms. RPP initially submitted Saraswati Lama’s candidacy with their own MPs as proposers and supporters. Later, RASWAP’s Kavindra Burlakoti and Labor Culture Party’s Aren Rai, who were part of the negotiations, also came to the registration site and registered Thakur’s nomination as second proposer.

After registering the candidacy based on RASWAP’s assurance, RPP parliamentary leader Shahi questioned Chairperson Lamichhane, asking why such support had been promised. Speaking to journalists at the parliamentary secretariat after the nomination, Shahi said, “We will see how much of his words are fulfilled.”

However, Shahi acknowledged that since RASWAP has formally endorsed Rubi Kumari Thakur, she is nearly certain to become Deputy Speaker. With RASWAP and Labor Culture Party combined, there are 189 seats in the House of Representatives, which amounts to more than two-thirds majority.

Decision Made Just 10 Minutes Prior

On Wednesday night, RASWAP General Secretary Kavindra Burlakoti held conversation with Labor Culture Party Chairman Sampang. On Thursday morning, RASWAP Chairperson Lamichhane called RPP parliamentary leader Gyanendra Shahi with the same message—“Please file your candidacy. We desire representation of the indigenous nationalities cluster in the Deputy Speaker post.”

The CPN did not receive such a message and subsequently decided not to put forward their candidate for Deputy Speaker, despite initially claiming the position. Meanwhile, RSP and RASWAP were deliberating over their candidates.

RPP had initially planned to nominate Khushbu Oli. After RASWAP Chairperson Lamichhane requested a candidate from the indigenous nationalities cluster, Khushbu was convinced and Saraswati Lama was nominated as the candidate.

Similarly, the Labor Culture Party originally intended Ambika Devi Sangraula as their candidate, but following RASWAP’s request for a candidate from the indigenous cluster, they decided to nominate Rubi Kumari Thakur after consultation.

Both RPP and RASWAP had understood that they would support each other during the vote and were preparing accordingly.

However, both RPP and Labor Culture Party were ‘surprised’ during the process of candidate registration.

While the RPP candidates were registering, Thakur of the Labor Culture Party was waiting for her turn. As RPP leaders were taking photos post-registration, Labor Culture Party General Secretary Aren Rai and RASWAP General Secretary Kavindra Burlakoti arrived together. Burlakoti announced the decision to support Thakur.

Following that, Aren Rai acted as proposer, with RASWAP’s Ashok Chaudhary and Labor Culture Party’s Ambika Devi Sangraula as supporters for Thakur’s nomination.

Burlakoti admitted that the decision was reached at the last moment. He mentioned that the CPN and RPP had also sought to put forward candidates for Deputy Speaker.

According to Burlakoti, “There were proposals from the CPN at the cross meetings. We accepted some and rejected others. This decision was finalized just 10 minutes ago. We were waiting to see who would file nomination. We had not promised anyone earlier.”

He further explained that when they entered the nomination office, only a few minutes remained before the 2 pm deadline.

“As time was running out, officials from the parliamentary secretariat and others had said it would still be possible to submit nominations after entering inside the door,” he added.

Despite the last-minute nature of the decision, Burlakoti said it reflects the public sentiment.

He concluded, “There is public expectation that the party moves forward unitedly and we considered that. The Speaker’s post will be secured and the Deputy Speaker will be a person of younger age. The Constitutional Council will also appear inclusive.”

RPP Left Isolated

There are six parties in the House of Representatives. In the contest for the Deputy Speaker position, five parties stood together while RPP remained isolated.

The Nepal Communist Party, RPP, and Labor Culture Party all claimed the Deputy Speaker post and sought support from RASWAP. Nepali Congress and CPN-UML neither claimed the post nor urged RASWAP to support their candidate.

Due to the absence of a candidate nomination message from RASWAP, the opposition parties affiliated with the CPN engaged in dialogue. Mohan Acharya from Congress, Gurup Prasad Baral from UML, and Barshaman Pun from the Nepal Communist Party were involved in discussions. Labor Culture Party General Secretary Aren Rai also participated in these talks.

However, these four parties had not communicated with RPP. After RASWAP gave its support to RPP, all opposition parties except RPP decided to support Labor Culture Party’s candidate.

RPP had not initiated dialogue with other parties hoping for RASWAP’s support, and RPP parliamentary leader Shahi himself approached RASWAP for backing.

On March 5, Shahi went to meet RASWAP Chairperson Lamichhane at his residence. Following a phone call from Lamichhane, Shahi was initially enthusiastic.

However, after RASWAP ultimately decided to support the Labor Culture Party’s candidate, RPP found itself sidelined.

Similar to Shahi, Labor Culture Party Chairman Sampang was also in dialogue with top leaders of RASWAP. On March 6, Sampang met with Prime Minister Balendra Shah at the Prime Minister’s Office.

Ultimately, the Labor Culture Party has triumphed in securing the Deputy Speaker support.

With RASWAP’s backing, Rubi Kumari Thakur is ensured to become the Deputy Speaker. RASWAP alone has 182 MPs in the 275-member House. Nepali Congress holds 38 seats, CPN-UML 25, Nepal Communist Party 17, Labor Culture Party 7, and RPP 5.