Rabi Lamichhane’s post as minister and Rastriya Swatantra Party chairman will be automatically canceled after the Supreme Court (SC) ruled on Friday that he is not a Nepali citizen.
As per the Constitution of Nepal, it is mandatory for an individual to be a Nepali citizen to become a member of a political party or a lawmaker. Lamichhane is now ineligible to become a member of a party, lawmaker or minister.
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Dinesh Kumar Thapaliya said that the post of Rastriya Swatantra Party chairman has fallen vacant as a person ineligible to become a Nepali citizen cannot become the chairman of a party.
“The Supreme Court has revoked Rabi Lamichhane’s post as lawmaker stating that he did not complete the process of acquiring Nepali citizenship giving up his American citizenship. Rabi Lamichhane is now without citizenship as per the SC’s interpretation. The post of Rastriya Swatantra Party president has also become vacant as the citizenship that Rabi Lamichhane submitted while registering the party is invalid,” CEC Thapaliya said. “They will now have to pick party president.”
