What Is the ‘Right to Recall’ Concept Proposed by the Rastriya Swatantra Party?
Image source, RSP/Facebook
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which is leading the government, has decided to prepare a concept paper on arrangements to recall elected representatives.
According to central member Milan Limbu, the central committee meeting held on Friday assigned General Secretary Bipin Acharya the responsibility to draft the ‘Right to Recall’ concept.
An 11-member committee, with Acharya as coordinator, has been tasked with preparing the concept and presenting it to the party.
The RSP has long supported the legal provision to recall elected representatives.
General Secretary Acharya said they would soon finalize and submit the concept paper to the party.
“Since its inception, the party has upheld the Right to Recall as one of its fundamental principles. In the early days, we even invoked the Right to Recall concerning Dhakakumar Shrestha,” Acharya stated.
Shrestha, who became an MP through the 2022 House of Representatives election where RSP participated for the first time, was recalled by the party amid controversy despite no public opinion being collected.
“Now, revisiting that point, we want to formalize and strengthen the internal ‘Right to Recall’ within the party and develop practical ways to recall elected representatives,” Acharya explained.
Draft Law Will Be Prepared
After winning a clear majority in the February election, where the RSP participated for the second time, it claimed that Labor Minister Deepak Kumar Sah was recalled according to the recall concept. However, critics argued that neither voters nor party workers were consulted in the process.
“This must never become a political tool used against any individual. I have been given the responsibility to prepare the document based on a concept that should stand as a genuine principle rather than a tool of intimidation,” Acharya commented.
He added that a legal draft will be prepared and presented to allow the party to recall any elected representative who acts outside party or national values from party responsibilities or other political positions.
Currently, Nepalese law does not grant voters or political parties the right to recall a Member of Parliament or other elected officials.
With a nearly two-thirds majority in the House of Representatives, the RSP claims it will present their concept as a bill to Parliament to become law.
“Whether this bill is submitted by the government or as a private member’s bill from the party is a separate matter. But we will work to submit it not just for our benefit but comprehensively,” Acharya stated.
Acknowledging some contentious issues in the concept, Acharya affirmed, “This committee will work to develop a scientifically sound method.”
Appointments to Party Leadership
Image source, RSP/Facebook
About two months after concluding its grand convention in Chitwan, the RSP has nominated six out of eleven vacant party leadership positions.
In a meeting held on Friday at ‘Ghantighar’, the party named Purushottam Yadav, a Gen Z activist, as co-general secretary; Dr. Manohar Pradhan as treasurer; and Basumaya Tamang as deputy treasurer.
The party also appointed former Communication Minister Jagdish Kharel as spokesperson, with Namita Yadav and Surendra Chaudhary as deputy spokespersons.
Leaders indicated that the remaining central members and office bearers will be nominated in the first central committee meeting after the convention, although the previous meeting had appointed Prime Minister Balendra Shah Paudel, also known as ‘Balen’, as senior leader only.
According to RSP’s constitution, a prior central committee member status is required to be a party office bearer.
The Friday meeting also nominated nine individuals, including Home Minister Sudhan Gurung, former Physical Infrastructure Minister Sunil Lamsal, and Minister of Land Reform, Cooperatives, and Federal Affairs Pratibha Rawal, to the central committee.
There are still 42 positions left unfilled in the central committee. Prior to the February election, a provision was established for the party chairman to nominate one senior leader and eleven office bearers to accommodate factions that had joined through adjustment.
The meeting also appointed Pramod Nyaupane, a former journalist, as head of the Organizational Department; Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal as head of the International Relations Department; Vijay Jairu as head of Public Service and Public Grievance Management; Tosima Karki as head of Public Health; Nisha Dangi as head of the Infrastructure Department; former treasurer Lima Adhikari Acharya as head of the Finance Department; and Kamal Subedi as head of the Training Department.