RPP calls Central Work Execution Committee meeting as internal disputes grow

KATHMANDU: Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) has called a meeting of its Central Work Execution Committee amid disputes over the candidacy of its lawmaker Saraswati Lama in the election for the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives.

According to RPP Spokesperson Mohan Shrestha, the meeting has been called for April 29.

A proposal to elect Lama as the Deputy Speaker was rejected by an overwhelming majority in the meeting of the House of Representatives on Friday. Rubi Kumari of Shram Sanskriti Party (SSM), who was supported by the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), was elected to the position.

RPP has accused the RSP of backtracking on its promise of supporting its candidate in the election.

RPP General Secretary Dhawal Shamsher Rana claimed on Saturday that the party did not make a formal decision to field Lama as its candidate. “I want to make it clear—we are in a movement against the republic. We should not participate in any role that carries the primary responsibility of unconditional adherence to, protection of, and implementation of the Constitution under a republican system,” Rana wrote in a social media post. “I did not agree yesterday, do not agree today, and will not agree in the future with any decisions taken in defiance of the party’s democratic norms.”

Rana leads the anti-establishment faction in the party.