The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which went into the election declaring Balen Shah as its prime ministerial candidate, is planning to amend its party statute to make him the leader of its parliamentary party.
The party secured nearly a two-thirds majority in the election held on March 5.
“We had gone into the election declaring senior leader Balen Shah as our prime ministerial candidate. In a sense, he is already our parliamentary party leader. We will amend the statute if certain provisions need to be adjusted to formally appoint him as the party leader,” RSP joint spokesperson Pratibha Rawal told Setopati.
Article 66 of the party statute outlines the process for selecting the parliamentary party leader.
According to Clause 66(8)(a), before the federal election, the leader of the parliamentary party is to be chosen through an election among candidates selected by the party for both proportional representation and direct (first-past-the-post) elections.
Similarly, sub-clause (b) states that all general members of the party are eligible to vote in the election for parliamentary party leader. The party is planning to amend this provision. Rawal said that discussions have not yet taken place on the specific content of the amendment.
“We have practiced this before. Since we have already designated the prime ministerial candidate before the election, we will discuss what needs to be done to facilitate the process,” she said.
Under the current statute, a candidate who secures more than 50 percent of valid votes (50 percent + 1) becomes the parliamentary party leader. If no candidate reaches that threshold, a run-off election between the top two candidates is held and the winner becomes the parliamentary party leader.
The RSP has also begun preparations to select proportional representation candidates.
According to Rawal, meetings have been delayed because party President Rabi Lamichhane has been recovering at home after falling ill in recent days.
In the House of Representatives election held on March 5, the RSP won 182 seats – just two seats short of a two-thirds majority. The party secured 125 seats through the FPTP system and 57 through proportional representation.
Party leaders said that informal discussions are underway between party President Lamichhane and senior leader Balen Shah regarding the selection of proportional candidates.
