RSP Steps Up Local Election Preparations, Moves to Approve Candidate Selection Framework

Dragon Media Correspondent

The Rastriya Swatantra Party has intensified preparations for the upcoming local elections and decided to approve its “Candidate Selection Framework 2083.”

A meeting of the party’s Central Committee held at its central office on Friday decided to finalize the framework prepared under the coordination of General Secretary Bipin Kumar Acharya after incorporating suggestions received during the meeting.

According to Acharya, the meeting also decided to seek names from Central Committee members and House of Representatives members interested in serving on the Central Candidate Selection Committee for the local elections.

The RSP had earlier prepared a preliminary framework aimed at making the selection of local-level candidates more systematic, transparent and criteria-based. The party has also advanced the concept of a “Candidate Club” to identify and evaluate potential candidates.

The meeting further decided to form an 11-member committee under Acharya’s coordination to prepare a document on the “Right to Recall,” a mechanism under which voters could seek to remove elected representatives before the completion of their terms under specified conditions.

To take election preparations to the grassroots level, the party also decided to deploy Central Committee members and members of the House of Representatives across 460 rural municipalities.

They will conduct orientation programmes on the candidate selection framework, party policies and local election preparations. Joint General Secretary Nisha Dangi will coordinate the programme.

The meeting also decided to launch a monthly digital publication titled “Swatantra” from Asoj, covering the party’s ideological, policy and organizational issues.

Before beginning district and provincial conventions in Madhesh, the RSP will conduct an organizational audit of the party’s structure and activities there. A five-member committee headed by Joint General Secretary Hari Dhakal has been formed for the purpose.

According to Acharya, the committee will include Central Committee members from provinces other than Madhesh.

The latest decisions indicate that the RSP is moving simultaneously on candidate selection, organizational expansion, training and internal assessment as part of its strategy for the upcoming local elections.