RSP Convention: Voting underway to elect 99 Central Committee members

CHITWAN: Voting is underway in Chitwan to elect 99 members of the Central Committee of the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).

The voting process for the party’s first General Convention began at midnight on Wednesday and is expected to conclude by Thursday noon.

More than 4,100 convention representatives are eligible to cast their votes. However, RSP leaders said some representatives may have returned home without voting after the three-day convention was extended by two more days.

According to the RSP Central Election Commission, 384 candidates are contesting for 99 Central Committee seats in the first phase of the election. Of them, 210 are competing under the Open category, while 174 are in the Geographical category.

The party will elect five Central Committee members from each of the seven provinces under the Geographical category. Other members will be elected from different clusters.

The RSP has a 158-member Central Committee. While 99 members will be elected by voting, the remaining 59 will be nominated by the Central Committee.

Following the election of Central Committee members, the party will elect seven office-bearers in the second phase. The party president will nominate eleven office-bearers.

Earlier, the convention unanimously elected RSP founding President Rabi Lamichhane as the party president.