Rastriya Swatantra Party राष्ट्रिय स्वतन्त्र पार्टी | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Rabi Lamichhane |
| General Secretary | Kabindra Burlakoti |
| Spokesperson | Manish Jha |
| Vice-President | Dol Prasad Aryal Swarnim Wagle |
| Founded | 1 July 2022; 3 years ago (2022-07-01) |
| Headquarters | Chamati, Banasthali 16,Kathmandu |
| Membership | 241,799 (2025)[1] |
| Ideology | Economic liberalism[2] Constitutionalsocialism[3] Progressivism[3] |
| Political position | Centre[A] |
| Colours | Sky blue |
| Slogan | अब जान्नेलाई छान्ने “Select the knowledgeable” |
| ECN Status | National Party (4th largest) |
| Lawyers' Wing | Swatantra Kanun Byawasayee Manch |
| Seats inPratinidhi Sabha | 21 / 275 (Dissolved) |
| Seats inRastriya Sabha | 0 / 59 |
| Mayors/Chairs | 0 / 753 |
| Election symbol | |
 | |
| Website | |
| rspnepal | |
^ A: Also described ascentre-left andcentre-right.[3][4] | |
TheRastriya Swatantra Party (Nepali:राष्ट्रिय स्वतन्त्र पार्टी,lit. 'National Independence Party',abbr.RSP,RaSwaPa (Nepali:रास्वपा)) is acentrist[2][3] political party in Nepal.[5] The party was running as a coalition partner inPrachanda-led government with four cabinet ministries from 6 March 2024 to 12 July 2024.[6][7]
Previously, it remained as a junior ally in thePrachanda-led government from 26 December 2022 until 5 February 2023.[8][9] The party was announced byRabi Lamichhane in June 2022[10] and registered with theElection Commission of Nepal on 1 July 2022, ahead of the2022 Nepalese general election.[11][12] The RSP was thefourth-largest national party in Nepal following the 2022 election.
On 16 June 2022,Rabi Lamichhane resigned as managing director of Galaxy 4K television and announced that he would be contesting in the2022 general elections for a seat at theHouse of Representatives.[13] On 21 June 2022, he announced the formation of Rastriya Swatantra Party along with a 21-member central committee.[10][14] The party was formally registered in theElection Commission on 1 July 2022 with Rabi Lamichhane as the founding president and a bell inside a circle as its election symbol.[15]
The party field candidates in 131 constituencies for the2022 general election, but did not contest theprovincial elections. The party won seven direct seats and 13 proportional seats to theHouse of Representatives.[16] It received 10.70% of the party list vote and became one of sevennational parties in theFederal Parliament.[17] Following the election, the party joined thecoalition government ofPushpa Kamal Dahal with party presidentRabi Lamichhane serving asdeputy prime minister.[18]Indira Rana Magar from the party was elected as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.[19]
The party withdrew from the cabinet after Lamichhane's citizenship was declared invalid by theSupreme Court, but continued to support the government.[20][21] Following the decision,Dol Prasad Aryal became acting president of the party.[22][23] The party replaced list MPDhaka Kumar Shrestha and expelled him from the party following corruption accusations.[24][25]
The party contested the by-elections in 2023 and gained a seat inTanahun 1 while Lamichhane was re-elected fromChitwan 2.[26][27] The party rejoined the coalition government of Dahal on March 2024, but the cabinet was dissolved after a breakdown in the alliance a month later.[28][29] The party expelled general secretary Mukul Dhakal from the party for violating party rules.[30]
Party president Lamichhane was arrested in October 2024 following accusations of cooperative fraud andDol Prasad Aryal served as acting president..[31] In June 2025, Kabindra Burlakoti was appointed as general secretary andManish Jha was appointed as party spokesperson.[32]
Following the Gen Z protests, former MPSumana Shrestha resigned from the party.[33] Chief whipSantosh Pariyar also left the party and joined thePragatisheel Loktantrik Party.[34][35] In December 2025,Bibeksheel Sajha Party merged into the party.[36] The party also signed an agreement to merge withUjyaalo Nepal Party and also to bring inKathmandu mayorBalen Shah into the party.[37] The agreement with Ujyaalo Nepal Party later collapsed and the merger did not go ahead.[38]
The party had announced that it would have nosister organizations and only have members, notcadres. It had also announced thatprimary elections would be held to select candidates for elections from the party.[14][10] The party selected candidates for the 2022 general election through aprimary election.[39]
The party supports constitutional socialism,market socialism,progressivism, political pragmatism,participatory democracy,economic liberalism[2] andpolitical freedom.[40] The party has been described ascentrist[5][41] by different members within the party.[42][43]
| Dahal III | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N | Minister | Role | Assumed office | Left office | Tenure |
| 1. | Rabi Lamichhane | Ministry of Home Affairs,Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal | 6 March 2024 | 12 July 2024 | 128 days |
| 2. | Sumana Shrestha | Ministry of Education, Science and Technology | 6 March 2024 | 12 July 2024 | 128 days |
| 3. | Dol Prasad Aryal | Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security | 6 March 2024 | 12 July 2024 | 128 days |
| 4. | Biraj Bhakta Shrestha | Ministry of Youth and Sports | 6 March 2024 | 12 July 2024 | 128 days |
| Dahal III | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S.N | Minister | Role | Assumed office | Left office | Tenure | Successor |
| 1. | Dol Prasad Aryal | Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security | 17 January 2023 | 5 February 2023 | 19 days | Sharat Singh Bhandari |
| 2. | Shishir Khanal | Ministry of Education, Science and Technology | 17 January 2023 | 5 February 2023 | 19 days | Ashok Rai |
| 3. | Toshima Karki | StateMinistry of Health and Population | 17 January 2023 | 5 February 2023 | 19 days | Pushpa Kamal Dahalnot allocated to anyone |
The party endorses a "capitalistic" economy policy with individual rights. Industrial and commercial activities are off-limits to the government, which cannot interfere with economic relations between individuals, groups, classes, or entire nations. The party supports the idea thateconomic freedom will drive the economy to the prosperity and so does the planning and interference by the government disrupt the economy and have adverse effects.[44][45][46][47]
It also supports the introduction ofrecall elections, theright to reject and a provision forabsentee ballots. The party also supports adirectly electedprime minister and directly electedchief ministers for the seven provinces of Nepal.[10][14][48]
The party in its manifesto for the 2022 elections also supported the idea of a non-partisanpresident elected by an expanded electoral college which would incorporate elected representatives from ward chairs to federal lawmakers and also touted the idea of the chairman of theNational Assembly acting as the de facto vice-president.[49] The party also seeks to end political appointments in constitutional bodies and has called for the Constitutional Council to be scrapped and for appointments to constitutional bodies be recommended by the National Assembly and confirmed by the House of Representatives instead. The party has also called for the dissolution ofprovincial assemblies,district co-ordination committees and has stood in favour of a provincial council which would be elected by the heads of local governments in the province. The party chair Rabi Lamichhane did not cast his vote at the2022 provincial elections.[50][51]
The party sees theprivate sector,co-operatives and thepublic sector as the three pillars of the economy. The party favorscompetition and seeks to establish a growing role of the private sector as an alternative to the public sector in order to deliver services to the people and for economic growth. The party wants to end income tax for people in the lowest octile of earners in the country. The party also seeks to establishfood banks in every ward in the country and to guarantee nutrition assistance for people living under the poverty line by issuing themration cards. The party also seeks to expand the currentsocial welfare system and to include privateinsurance companies in the social welfare system.[52]
The party supports the establishment of asingle-payer healthcare system and the establishment of at least one laboratory and a 750-bed hospital in each of the seven provinces, a 50 to 100-bed hospital in each of the 77 districts, a 6 to 25-bed hospital in each local unit and a clinic in each ward in the country. The party also wants to establish a centralized nationalambulance service, health and quality assurance accreditation board, a food and drug department, a central disease board and a health innovation & development board. The party also wants to create a health workers act for public healthcare workers.[52]
The party seeks to crackdown oncorruption by introducing a Whistleblower Protection Act to protectwhistleblowers and by establishing an Anti-Corruption Police under theCommission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.[52]
The party has also called for the establishment of shelters for victims of abuse and the creation of a fund to help victims ofhuman trafficking,domestic violence andacid attack victims. The party also seeks to promote entrepreneurship among women andsexual minorities by establishing funds for businesses where at least sixty percent of the shareholders or employees are female or of a sexual minority group.[52]
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The party nominated 131 candidates for theFirst Past the Post seats for the2022 Nepalese general election.[53]
| Election | Leader | Constituency votes | Party list votes | Seats | Position | Resulting government | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | % | No. | % | |||||
| 2022 | Rabi Lamichhane | 815,023 | 7.77 | 1,130,344 | 10.70 | 21 / 275 | 4th | Opposition |
| No. | Deputy PM | Portrait | Term in office | Assembly | Constituency | Prime Minister | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | Tenure | ||||||
| 1 | Rabi Lamichhane |  | 26 December 2022 | 27 January 2023 | 32 days | 2nd Federal Parliament of Nepal | Chitwan 2 | Pushpa Kamal Dahal |
This MPs list is based on the order of power holdings within the party and ministry level and length of presence in the meeting of house of representatives.
| No. | MPs | Portrait | Assumed office | End office | Tenure | Preceded by | Constituency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Rabi Lamichhane |  | 1 July 2022 | 27 January 2023 | 210 days | Position Created | Chitwan 2 |
| 29 January 2023 | 12 September 2025 | 2 years, 226 days | Dol Prasad Aryal | ||||
| 2. | Swarnim Wagle |  | 28 April 2023 | 2 years, 137 days | Ram Chandra Poudel | Tanahun 1 | |
| 3. | Sumana Shrestha |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | - | elected as a proportional representative | |
| 4. | Dol Prasad Aryal | .jpg) | |||||
| 5. | Manish Jha |  | |||||
| 6. | Biraj Bhakta Shrestha |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | Jeevan Ram Shrestha | Kathmandu 8 | |
| 7. | Toshima Karki |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | Pampha Bhusal | Lalitpur 3 | |
| 8. | Hari Dhakal | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | Surendra Pandey | Chitwan 1 | ||
| 9. | Shishir Khanal |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | Bhimsen Das Pradhan | Kathmandu 6 | |
| 10. | Sobita Gautam |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | Madhav Kumar Nepal | Kathmandu 2 | |
| 11. | Ganesh Parajuli | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | Rambir Manandhar | Kathmandu 7 | ||
| 12. | Santosh Pariyar |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | - | elected as a proportional representative | |
| 13. | Indira Ranamagar |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | |||
| 14. | Chanda Karki |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | |||
| 15. | Nisha Dangi |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | |||
| 16. | Asim Shah |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | |||
| 17. | Shiva Nepali |  | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | |||
| 18. | Ashok Kumar Chaudhary | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | ||||
| 19. | Binita Kathayat | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | ||||
| 20. | Laxmi Tiwari | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | ||||
| 21. | Bindabasini Kansakar | 22 December 2022 | 2 years, 264 days | Dhaka Kumar Shrestha |
Rastriya Swatantra Party, was formed on 16 June 2022. The party supports constitutional socialism, participatory democracy, progressivism, and political freedom. The party is described as centre-left, centrist, and centre-right.
