Kathmandu, October 29
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has received more applications from aspiring candidates for executive positions in local governments than for ward-level posts, with party leaders reporting particularly strong interest in mayoral and rural municipality chairperson positions.
The party opened applications for aspiring rural municipality candidates on August 17 and for municipal candidates on October 15. It has not set a deadline for applications through its Candidate Club initiative.
The RSP has invited applications for seven categories of local positions, including rural municipality chairperson and vice-chairperson, mayor and deputy mayor, ward chairperson, open ward member, women ward member and Dalit women ward member.
Applications received so far suggest that party members are prioritising top executive positions, followed by deputy positions and ward chairperson posts. Interest in ward member positions has been comparatively low, according to party leaders.
RSP General Secretary Bipin Acharya said the party had received an encouraging response overall, although some local units had received fewer applications than required for ward member positions.
“We have not set a deadline for those interested in becoming candidates,” Acharya told Onlinekhabar. “Since no deadline has been fixed, some places may have received fewer applications for member positions. Applications can still be submitted after Tihar, so it is too early to draw a firm conclusion.”
Acharya said the party’s candidate selection committee, scheduled to meet on Thursday, would make further decisions, including whether to set an application deadline.
The party has so far opened applications for 460 rural municipalities and 276 municipalities. It has not yet invited applications for sub-metropolitan and metropolitan cities.
RSP spokesperson Jagadish Kharel also confirmed that executive positions had attracted greater interest than ward membership posts.
“Applications for member positions are fewer, while more people have applied for chief positions,” Kharel told Onlinekhabar.
Nabin Tripathi, the RSP’s Gandaki provincial president, reported a similar trend in the province. He said no applications had been received so far from aspiring local representatives in rural municipalities in Manang and Mustang.
According to Tripathi, 206 people had applied to become chairpersons in Gandaki’s 58 rural municipalities. He said interest in leading local governments was strong, while party members appeared less interested in other positions.
RSP introduces a new candidate selection system
The RSP is preparing to contest local elections for the first time and has developed a formal process for selecting its candidates.
A committee led by General Secretary Acharya has prepared the basic framework for the selection system, which the party says is designed to strengthen democratic, participatory and competitive practices from the grassroots level.
The selection process is based on four criteria: preliminary elections, political proximity, the Leadership Academy and inclusiveness.
The party has allocated 40 per cent of the total weighting to preliminary elections, 25 per cent to political proximity, 25 per cent to the Leadership Academy and 10 per cent to inclusiveness.
Under the preliminary election system, party members in the relevant local unit will vote among the aspiring candidates. They will also have the option of voting for none of the candidates.
The RSP says this provision is intended to protect voters’ right to reject all available candidates. If the “none of the above” option receives the highest number of votes, all other candidacies for that position will be cancelled, and a new selection process and vote will be held.
The party has also established eligibility requirements for aspiring candidates. Individuals who have never belonged to another political party and have held RSP membership for at least 45 days may apply.
Those who have left another political party must complete 90 days of RSP membership before applying.
However, a separate provision allows prominent members of society, experts and individuals with clean public records to enter through a lateral-entry process. They are not subject to the same minimum membership period once they join the party.
The RSP has also barred individuals who previously contested federal parliamentary elections and lost, as well as those included on proportional representation closed lists, from becoming its local-level candidates.
Party says process will reduce backroom decisions
The RSP claims the new system will strengthen internal democracy, improve the party’s competitiveness in elections and increase public trust.
It says the framework is intended to move away from the practice of announcing candidates shortly before elections through decisions made behind closed doors or by a small group of party leaders.
Explaining the rationale for the new system, the party said candidate selection had often been influenced by personal connections, access to power centres, factional interests, financial resources and the use of money or muscle.
According to the RSP, these practices have favoured people able to please influential power brokers rather than those who enjoy genuine public support.
The party argues that local elections have not been immune to such practices, contributing to shortcomings in local governance and preventing many local governments from fully realising their potential.
Whether the new selection framework will deliver the party’s stated goals will become clearer as applications progress and candidates are selected for the next local elections.
