The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), a young party that surged to prominence in 2022 by campaigning on anti‑corruption and good governance, is going through a turmoil after the Sept 8–9 GenZ protests. In the immediate aftermath of the Sept 8 protest, RSP leaders publicly endorsed the movement and affirmed full solidarity with youth demands.
Then on Sept 9, the party distanced itself from the violence, emphasizing its participation in peaceful demonstrations and promising to cooperate with investigations. These public messages reaffirmed RSP’s anti‑establishment brand. But even as it claimed the mantle of youth’s voice, the party’s internal cohesion frayed badly.
The RSP’s top leadership was already in flux when the protests hit. Its chair, Rabi Lamichhane, is in police custody and the party’s vice‑chairman, DP Aryal, is the acting head. Lamichhane’s long‑running legal troubles persisted into 2025. He was in Nakkhu prison when the GenZ unrest erupted, and a dramatic (but ultimately unsuccessful) bid by supporters to free him became a major controversy.
The RSP Secretariat publicly acknowledged reports that Lamichhane was released during the riots using falsified documents, and it referred the matter to the party’s disciplinary commission for investigation.
In a Secretariat meeting, Aryal urged party figures to avoid “unverified statements” that create confusion, and stressed the need to present a “single voice” to the public. Senior party leader and vice‑chairman, Swarnim Wagle, echoed calls for discipline and announced that an extended party conclave in late October would address “leadership transition, political strategy and organizational reform” ahead of the national polls. Some RSP leaders have privately argued that Lamichhane cannot lead the party into election, given his legal limbo, although no formal resignation from him had occurred to date.
High‑profile resignations in the party also reveal internal fractures. The most significant was Sumana Shrestha, a former education minister and joint general secretary of RSP. On Sept 14, she publicly quit the party, condemning “a culture of impunity” among the leadership and denouncing a party hierarchy that places itself above the country.
Shrestha had already been a vocal critic of the party’s leadership style. Her departure crystallized perceptions that RSP’s young leadership was prone to internal conflict. Some RSP officials responded by expressing regret and vowing an internal review to strengthen the party. In short, RSP’s leadership rift has been one of the starkest post‑protest developments: a core of co‑leaders has had to maintain order in the absence of Lamichhane, even as some like Shrestha have fallen out.
The general convention of RSP is another talking point. The party is yet to decide whether to convene its first convention before the March 2026 polls. It, however, has called for an extended meeting for Nov 7 and 8 in Chitwan to finalize the things related to general convention, party leadership and ideology.
RSP Secretariat member, Santosh Pariyar, has proposed an early general convention along with a complete restructuring of the party—not just on political, ideological, and strategic grounds, but also on the basis of key national issues—at the party’s Central Committee meeting.
As the first option, he proposed that the party’s first general convention, originally scheduled for February next year, be moved to December this year. The RSP’s first general convention is currently planned for 19-21 Feb 2026 in Chitwan. It was initially scheduled for April 2025 but was postponed at the last moment.
For that, Pariyar suggested dissolving all existing committees. He proposed converting the current central committee into a general convention organizing committee. He further stated that the central committee formed after the convention should not only reorganize the party’s structure but also redefine its ideology, vision, working direction, and political issues.
If that is not possible, Pariyar has presented an alternative: calling an extended meeting to reorganize its structures.
He told ApEx that the extended meeting would primarily focus on rebuilding the organization. Through it, he said the existing central secretariat and central committee could be reshuffled. Additionally, Pariyar pointed out that the RSP is suffering from ideological confusion, and therefore, restructuring is also needed on that basis.
“Let’s rebuild the party’s ideology too. We still have much to synthesize and clarify. We are still confused about where we stand on certain matters. Therefore, we must also reorganize our ideas from a theoretical perspective,” he said. “It is also time to reassess our agendas, the issues we raised earlier, how far we have taken them, and the new issues we failed to raise. The recent GenZ movement has brought up issues we once championed. Perhaps we should now take them up more strongly, redefine our political agenda, and broaden our scope.” The restructured committee, according to Pariyar, could then prepare for the March 2026 elections.
Ideologically, the RSP’s response to the GenZ uprising has been to double down on its core platforms. Its leaders have explicitly linked the protests to the failures of the old regime and have advanced policies addressing GenZ concerns.
However, RSP’s attempts to capitalize on the GenZ movement have been controversial. On the second day of the protest, the party backed a supporters’ jailbreak for Lamichhane, which critics said undermined the protest’s non‑partisan ethos. The perception that RSP tried to hijack the protest for partisan gain has tarnished its image among some youth. In response, the party has intensified its official messaging that aims to reaffirm its goal of upholding protest demands like justice and free expression. But not many youths seem to be buying it.
