Kathmandu, November 6
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) President Rabi Lamichhane has criticised his party’s leaders and cadres for becoming arrogant following their electoral success, urging them to remain grounded, respect the public mandate and abandon the pursuit of political positions.
Speaking at a party programme in Chitwan on Friday, Lamichhane said many RSP members had begun looking down on others, while those seeking election tickets were primarily interested in senior positions rather than grassroots posts.
He expressed particular concern over the lack of applications from party members interested in contesting ward chairperson and ward member positions in the upcoming local elections.
The RSP had invited applications from aspiring rural municipality candidates from August 17 and municipal candidates from October 14. However, Lamichhane said most applications received so far were for rural municipality chairperson and municipal mayor positions.
“Our problem is that I might have to resign from my position and contest for ward chairperson myself. Our friends are not interested in becoming ward chairpersons. They want to go straight for the municipality. Nobody seems interested in the lower levels,” he said.
Joking that he might have to contest a ward election himself, Lamichhane said party members had become too ambitious and were overlooking opportunities to serve at the grassroots level.
He described the tendency to seek only higher positions as an example of opportunistic politics and urged party members to prioritise political commitment over personal ambition.
Lamichhane also warned party leaders and cadres against using the party’s electoral success to exert pressure on government officials and security agencies.
Recalling how RSP members had faced difficulties from state authorities while campaigning in the past, he said the party must not retaliate against the administration now that it had gained political power.
“Just because our friends were mistreated in the past does not mean we can now use political pressure on the administration and police by saying, ‘I belong to the Bell’,” he said. “We have won just one election. We are not people who have fallen from another planet.”
He also cautioned party members against displaying arrogance because of their access to state institutions.
“We must abandon the arrogance that we are now a big party and have the police and chief district officers in our hands. Do not misuse the mandate given by the people to undermine the very people who gave it to you,” he said.
Lamichhane acknowledged that the party’s rapid rise had left some members without adequate political training, comparing its electoral success to being admitted directly into the eighth grade without completing earlier classes.
He said the party needed to learn the lessons it had missed and develop the political discipline necessary to sustain its success.
“People believed the RSP was capable and admitted us directly into the eighth grade. But we cannot move from eighth to ninth grade without studying the classes we missed,” he said.
The RSP president also pointed to growing divisions between elected representatives and party members who had contested alongside them. He said some elected lawmakers had begun ignoring their former colleagues, while those who had not secured positions were becoming resentful of their successful peers.
He urged both sides to avoid jealousy and internal competition, saying party members should recognise one another’s achievements and work together.
Addressing criticism of the party from analysts, the media and other political parties, Lamichhane said the RSP should not attack those who point out its shortcomings.
He said the party needed to accept criticism and reflect on its own conduct rather than blame others for exposing its weaknesses.
“The political character of a party is not to attack those who hold up a mirror to show its face,” he said, adding that RSP leaders and members must rise above narrow political behaviour and meet the higher expectations of voters.
