Kathmandu, April 22: The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has created an interim internal structure titled the Federal Leadership Forum to accommodate leaders who joined the party from other political outfits and those who could not be included in the central committee.
Party leaders said the new structure is designed to integrate newcomers, including activists and former members of other parties, into an organized framework. The concept was developed under Vice-President Dr. Swarnim Wagle and has been presented as a temporary management mechanism ahead of the party’s general convention.
According to spokesperson Manish Jha, the forum will remain active only until the party’s general convention and will be dissolved afterwards. He said the arrangement provides an alternative placement for leaders who cannot be accommodated in the central committee.
However, the Federal Leadership Forum is not recognized in the party statute. RSP’s constitution defines eight central structures, including the general convention, central council, central committee, advisory council, disciplinary commission, election commission, accounts body and departments. The forum has been formed outside this framework.
The idea of the forum began after the merger with Bibeksheel Sajha Party, aiming to manage its incoming leaders. Seventeen leaders from that background were initially placed in the forum, including Samiksha Baskota, Prakash Chandra Pariyar, Ranjana Darshana, Suraj Pradhan, Navaraj Thapa, Ashutosh Pradhan, and Dhanesh Thapa. Later, seven of them were inducted into the central committee, while ten remain in the forum.
Former members of the now-defunct Ujjwal Nepal Party have also been included in the structure. Among them are Dr Bishal Bhandari, Nirdesh Silwal, Dr Tara Joshi, Dr Shankar Dhakal, Rima Vishwakarma, and Sanjeev Bhattarai. Two of them have since become MPs, with Joshi winning a direct seat from Dadeldhura and Vishwakarma entering through proportional representation.
The party further expanded the forum on Monday by adding eight more members through a central committee decision. With this expansion, the body now has 25 members.
Despite its formation, the forum has no defined role, responsibilities, or authority. One member said there is still no clarity on duties or hierarchy, and no meeting has been held so far. Party leadership has also not engaged with the members collectively.
Spokesperson Jha said forum members may be invited to central committee meetings as observers to provide suggestions. He added that the arrangement is purely temporary until the general convention, where leadership positions will be decided through internal competition.
RSP’s statute allows a 129-member central committee, but it currently remains incomplete with 92 members after recent integrations, including leaders aligned with the Balen Shah faction and former Bibeksheel leaders. Party officials said not all incoming leaders can be accommodated in the central committee, necessitating the alternative structure.
People’s News Monitoring Service
Login to add a comment