RSP Opens Applications for ‘Candidate Club’ Ahead of Local Elections

Dragon Media Correspondent

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has opened applications for its “Candidate Club” for individuals seeking to contest the upcoming local elections under the party’s banner.

Party Chair Rabi Lamichhane said candidates will no longer be selected for local elections unless they go through the Candidate Club and Leadership Academy process.

Speaking at a programme held at the party office on Monday, Lamichhane said priority would be given to those who have already contributed to the party, while the door would remain open to new and capable individuals.

He also made clear that any informal assurances previously given by party leaders or office-bearers regarding candidacies would no longer be valid.

“If anyone has promised or offered a candidacy on their own without a formal party decision, all such assurances are considered cancelled,” Lamichhane said. “No one can become a candidate without going through the Candidate Club.”

RSP has introduced the Candidate Club and Leadership Academy as part of an effort to make candidate selection more institutional, competitive and linked to political training.

Lamichhane said the party had been unable to fully implement the system during the previous election because it was still undergoing internal integration and organizational restructuring.

He said that process had now been completed following the party convention and stressed that factional identities would no longer be accepted within the party.

“There is now one RSP and one leadership. Do not come saying you belong to this faction or that faction,” he said. “Now there is one RSP and one bell.”

The decision means that individuals seeking RSP tickets in the upcoming local elections will now have to pass through a formal application, selection and training process before being considered as candidates.