Sumana Shrestha has finally quit Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).
She announced her departure from the party on Sunday citing the political changes brought about by the Gen Z movement. However, the groundwork for her exit had been laid for a long time. For some time, she had expressed dissatisfaction within the party, even doing so publicly. This discontent led to her resignation as joint general secretary on April 1, stating that she wished to focus solely on her parliamentary role. The party held her resignation for about two months before finally accepting it on May 23.
Shrestha had resigned, arguing that the "one person, one position" rule should be implemented within the party pointing that one person cannot do justice to two full-time responsibilities.
She had previously stated that despite the high hopes people had for the party, its ability to deliver was zero. She also voiced her dissatisfaction with the party's excessive ceremonial processes and the tendency to make important decisions without consulting office-bearers.
When she resigned, she raised six key issues, which are as follows:
"My voice was not heard"
Shrestha was elected joint general secretary at the party's Jaleshwar meeting in December 2023. At the time she announced her resignation from the position on the eve of the party's general convention, she said that her voice was no longer being heard within the party.
On February 16, 2024, Prakriti Lamsal, a Nepali student at KIIT University in the Indian state of Odisha, was found dead. When Shrestha demanded an investigation into her mysterious death, the college administration had suspended Nepali students and threatened them with expulsion. Shrestha tried to obstruct the House, arguing that the Nepali government had not taken any action against the atrocities committed against Nepali students. She raised this issue in the parliamentary party as well. Her resignation letter stated that her concerns were not heard there.
"I saw a situation where even when I suggested obstructing the House over the student issue in the parliamentary party, I was not heard," she said.
"I had to learn about party decisions from others"
Sumana Shrestha said she was in a position where she had to learn about party decisions from other people.
In her resignation letter, she commented that she felt her position as joint general secretary was trivialized because while her requests for meetings were ignored, she was forced to learn about important decisions from unofficial sources.
"As an official, I felt that my position held no weight, as I had to learn about important party matters and decisions from others, not from official sources. I asked for a meeting on various issues many times, but I was ignored. For this reason, I request that such an important position no longer be taken so lightly," she had said.
"One person, one position"
She said she resigned to show that she was not power-hungry. She argued that a lust for power is a deep-rooted custom in Nepal's old political parties and in Nepali society in general.
She also said that she deeply disagreed with the notion that holding another important party position in addition to her role as a federal lawmaker would send the message that nothing could be done without an official title.
"The claim that we are different from other parties, while our behavior remains the same, is unacceptable to me," she had said.
She also said that one person cannot do justice to two full-time responsibilities.
"As a federal lawmaker, one must primarily study the bills that are presented, discuss them with stakeholders, submit necessary amendments, raise contemporary issues in the House, and establish a narrative and issues that will make society better. Besides this, there is also the role of a parliamentary committee," she had said.
She is also a member of the Education, Health and Information Technology Committee under the House of Representatives.
She argued that it was humanly impossible to work as a lawmaker and at the same time devote the necessary amount of time to building the party organization and creating and implementing party procedures as the joint general secretary.
"Both are full-time positions. My experience tells me that when both responsibilities are given to the same person, neither responsibility can be completely fulfilled. My entire time is spent on my parliamentary role, and I believe that the work of the joint general secretary has not been effective," she wrote in her resignation letter.
"High hopes from the people, but zero capacity to deliver"
In her resignation letter, she argued that while the people have high hopes for the party, its ability to deliver is zero.
She said that the public had high hopes that the country would be freed from mismanagement after the party received an unprecedented mandate in the last election.
"On my recent travels across the country, I found that hope still remains. But it is mixed with the complaint that the party's presentation is not as strong as expected," she said.
"We couldn't shake the label of cooperative fraud"
In the resignation letter, Sumana Shrestha stated that the party was unable to shake the label of cooperative fraud that had been placed on it.
"We only pushed the slogan that the old parties placed the cooperative fraud label on us in revenge," she had said.
She complained that even when she gave the simple task of collecting data to party officials at the provincial and municipal levels, no one started the work.
"This clearly shows how long a journey we have to go to become a party and deliver. I think one of the reasons for this is giving too many responsibilities to the same person," she had said.
"Too many ceremonial processes"
She felt that during meetings, officials were given more importance than necessary in terms of seating and speaking order.
She believed that this culture discouraged innovation and enthusiasm for work.
"As a management consultant, I have seen various types of organizational structures. I believe that a flat hierarchy (a structure with a defined leadership and members) would be most effective for our party, which is trying to establish itself as an alternative political party. In such a structure, the discussion is based on the merits of what is said, not who said it. The opinions of everyone are given equal importance and consideration, regardless of age or position," she had said.
She said that she did not take the act of giving up a position that the party had given her with great hope and trust lightly.
She had said that her commitment to the RSP would not waver.
"There is no doubt that this platform and the opportunity to reach the public were only made possible by the efforts of the party and former president Rabi Lamichhane. After being freed from the party's responsibility, I will further strengthen my role as an MP," she had said.
She also announced that she was not leaving this position to pursue any other party position and that she would fully embrace the "one person, one position" principle and would not claim any other party position besides that of a central member as long as she remained a lawmaker.
Additionally, there was a controversy over her saying "pass" when a photo of Chairman Rabi Lamichhane was shown on screen during an interview with Paradigm TV.
Regarding this issue, she had said, "Chairman Rabi Lamichhane has a case pending in court. I am not a political person who came from a movement. I said 'pass' for all the national leaders because if my tongue slips, it could send the wrong message to another level."
Amid all this dissatisfaction, on Sunday, Sumana announced her departure from the party, saying, "Never admitting mistakes! Continuously making mistakes, and everyone in the party has to bear the burden! Resorting to media trial of those who criticize within the party. I have been criticizing RSP since it began placing the party above the country and the leader above the party. But it didn't make any difference. On the contrary, media trials began. This is unacceptable. Now I have made it easy for you to attack me openly. Do as you please as long as you can. I quit, I have left the party."
She also urged the third-generation leaders of parties, including Nepali Congress and CPN (UML), to think.
"The situation of today is more because of your leaders' behavior than your own. Why do you carry that burden? Now is the right time. Stop worshiping your leaders. Either remove them or leave," she urged.
