Rabi Lamichhane conundrum

On 27 January, Friday, nearly after three months of deliberation, the Supreme Court swiftly delivered its verdict on a pending case related to validity of citizenship of Rabi Lamichhane, the sitting DPM, Minister of Home Affairs as well as the president of RSP. The court invalidated his citizenship certificate and annulled his MP, ministerial position, including his party membership and status.   

Late in the evening, after criticizing the verdict in public for making him a stateless person, Lamichhane tendered his resignation. January 28 was Saturday holiday for government offices. On 29 January, he applied for citizenship certificate at the local administration office, surrendered his Nepali passport at the immigration department, applied for a fresh party membership and, on the same day, after three successive party meetings, he reinstated himself, unanimously, as the new president of RSP.

With his new avatar, he met PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" at Baluwatar in the evening. He is reported to have gone there to reclaim his lost position on Friday. After getting PM’s non-committal response, in the late evening, he had a meeting with KP Sharma Oli at his residence Balkot. This was most probably to have his support to push PM Prachanda. In the morning of 31 January, Lamichhane again met PM Prachanda where the media reported him threatening the PM with a possible withdrawal of support to the coalition government if his position is not restored by 5.00 pm. To date, PM Prachanda has not shown any interest in Lamichhane's reappointment.

The rapid unfolding of the events indicates Lamichhane’s desperation to get into power and restore his lost pride and glory. His party is claiming that the responsibility to head the Ministry of Home Affairs is with RSP alone and not with others. They claim this to have been agreed at the time of coalition government formation. It sounds like the Ministry of Home Affairs is a piece of cake belonging to a kid, left unattended for a while, and the kid is claiming back as if he is the rightful owner.

Meanwhile, it is reported that PM Prachanda is in no mood to handover the Ministry not just to Lamichhane but also to his party, RSP. He is buying time or dillydallying by referring to have get the full verdict or a consultation with coalition partners before making further decisions. Clearly, his colleagues within the party are unanimously backing him not to retreat from his position. Investigations are underway over Lamichhane holding dual passports – US and Nepali passports – at a same time. It is reported that he has acquired Nepali passport before renouncing US citizenship.

Lamichhane's diehard fans smell a deep conspiracy hatched by mainstream political parties to push him and his party from power.

Lamichhane's diehard fans smell a deep conspiracy hatched by mainstream political parties to push him and his party from power. It is reported in the media that now a separate complaint has been lodged with the Election Commission to quash RSP as a political party. His fans blame the opponents for seeking to harass Lamichhane and RSP by bringing in non-issue like citizenship when, in fact, he had already renounced US citizenship ages back. However, they failed to note the conditions and circumstances that forced him to renounce US citizenship. Clearly, this was done to evade Nepal Press Council investigations. It sounds like RSP could be in a kind of legal quagmire.

Investigations into holding dual passport is still pending. This is far more complicated than the issue of citizenship. If convicted he could be charged of a criminal liabilities. The issue of conflict of interest was also surfaced when Lamichhane went on to head the Ministry of Home Affairs. It is the same ministry which was investigating his cases of citizenship and passport issues. Had this been a case in some other countries, conflict interest - real or apparent - is enough to disqualify him from getting into power. Unfortunately, we don’t have laws against issues like conflict of interest, nepotism and favoritism. As a piece of satire, the word “Nep” in Nepal is said to have been derived from the word Nepotism.

It is baffling to understand why Lamichhane is so desperate to reclaim his lost position. It is also equally baffling to understand Oli’s indirect support. If Lamichhane has been sensible enough, he should have: (a) requested the PM to establish an independent team to investigate his case, (b) push for holding by-elections in his constituency Chitwan-2, as soon as possible, and (c) inform the public about his case in a transparent manner. The more he pushes to reclaim his lost position, the more he loses his and that of his party’s credibility. The more he expresses his desperation, the more people become suspicious of his character. He is putting not only his career at risk but also his party into a disastrous situation.

The withdrawal of RSP from the coalition government may not immediately pull down Prachanda government. But it can trigger political crisis. The government will be forced to seek fresh mandate in the parliament. With three smaller parties, namely, JSP, Janamat and Nagarik Unmukti parties, already expressing their displeasures, withdrawal of RSP means further disaster to the wobbling seven party coalition government. Nepali Congress may come as a saviour but it is pretty aware that failure of a coalition government under Article 76(2) means switching to Article 76(3) of the Constitution, that is, formation of the government by the largest political party in the parliament. In the present case, it is Nepali Congress Party.

With CPN-UML in three powerful positions, that is, the President, the Speaker and the Prime Minister, it implies total state capture by CPN-UML.

Many believe the political whirlwind, created by Lamichhane conundrum, is due to up-coming elections to the seats of the president and the vice president. By indirectly supporting Lamichhane’s cause, Oli is seeking to corner Prachanda who is, recently, drifting towards the camps of Nepali Congress. After securing Nepali Congress confidence vote in the parliament and with positions of the Speaker going to CPN-UML and the Deputy Speaker to RSP, PM Prachanda is calling for a national consensus candidate for president’s elections. PM Prachanda is clearly aware that, after two and half years, when he will have to hand over the power in “a silver plate” to Oli. With CPN-UML in three powerful positions, that is, the President, the Speaker and the Prime Minister, it implies total state capture by CPN-UML.

This is what PM Prachanda is seeking to avoid. When he speaks of a national consensus, he is clearly indicating his support to Nepali Congress candidate.

In a way, Lamichhane conundrum has added another layer of political complexity. At the moment, Lamichhane can do nothing other than waiting till the elections to the seat of the president, now scheduled on 9 March, are held.     

Published on 2 February 2023