On May 5, 2023, Nepal’s Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) withdrew its support to Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s government and decided to stay and remain in opposition, as per a senior official from the party.
During a joint meeting with the central committee and parliamentary party, the RSP, under Ravi Lamichhane, decided to withdraw its support to the Prachanda government, said Mod Dhakal, the party spokesperson.
The decision to withdraw support will not immediately impact the Prachanda government but will result in a political crisis in the future after some time.
As per the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-Maoist) central committee member and former environment minister, Sunil Manandhar, “The RSP has decided to withdraw its support to the Prachanda Government, which will not immediately affect the position of Prachanda government, but it may result in a political crisis some time.”
“We still have a majority in the House of Representatives even after RSP withdraws support,” he said.
After the general election in November 2022, the RSP joined the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government on December 25, 2022. However, the party called back its ministers on February 5, 2023, but continued supporting the government.
After winning two seats in the by-election held on April 23, 2023, Prachanda invited the party to join the government. But a failure to reach a power-sharing deal and its agenda in the standard minimum programme of the coalition government led the party to withdraw.
The RSP has accused the Pushpa Kamal Dahal government of failing to address issues related to curbing corruption.
The RSP, the fourth-largest party in the Nepal Parliament, has 22 lawmakers in the lower house. Supreme Court of Nepal revoked Ravi Lamichhane’s Parliament Membership in early 2023 after he was found guilty of not producing a valid citizenship certificate to contest the parliamentary elections.
Thus, he was compelled to obtain his citizenship back and prepare for the by-election.
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