KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 30
Rabi Lamichhane, chair of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra (Balen) Shah, and Kulman Ghising, patron of the Ujyaalo Nepal Party, have finally reached an agreement after a week-long back-and-forth regarding political parties and the upcoming elections.
Following the agreement, Ghising will be appointed senior vice-president of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). Arvind Sah, a member of the Ujaayalo Nepal Party's central committee, told THT: "Ghising will be given the senior vice-president position in the RSP and a certain percentage in the central committee based on our numbers."
The RSP has already agreed to nominate Shah as the future prime ministerial candidate. Yesterday, Shah and RSP President Lamichhane had reached an agreement without Ghising.
Since then, in an effort to come to a consensus, the two met and spoke with Ghising on numerous occasions. Earlier, the consensus could not be forged due to uncertainty of Ghising's role and place in the new arrangement.
Ghising had previously stated that the party ought to reevaluate the RSP's proposal. Raising the issue of existence and identity, he explained that it was futile to unite by providing the party's name, election symbol and position.
Following their meeting today, Lamichhane and Ghising decided to proceed with submitting a closed list from the same party for proportional representation. The RSP will now have three vice-presidents, including Ghising, as per the fourth point of the agreement signed today.
Nothing regarding the ranking is mentioned in the agreement. However, Ghising's name appears first. DP Aryal comes next, followed by Swarnim Wagle in the third.
Previously, when there were only two vice-presidents, Aryal was at the forefront, followed by Wagle. "Lamichhane will remain the central president of the RSP, with Ghising, Aryal and Wagle as vice-presidents," reads point four of the agreement. RSP President Lamichhane and Anup Kumar Upadhyay, president of the Ujyaalo Nepal Party, signed the agreement tonight on behalf of Ghising. Shah was there as a witness.
The two parties have called for unity to be developed in order to create an alternative force through a seven-point agreement that was signed today.
The agreement's seventh point reads, "To call on other cultured and transformational alternative political forces, groups and individuals to unite around the principles, leadership and elections of the RSP and advance the issues of democratic good governance, prosperity and social justice."
