Rastriya Swatantra Party
The Rastriya Swatantra Party is a centrist political party in Nepal. The party was running as a coalition partner in Prachanda-led government with four cabinet ministries from 6 March 2024 to 12 July 2024.
Previously, it remained as a junior ally in the Prachanda-led government from 26 December 2022 until 5 February 2023. The party was announced by Rabi Lamichhane in June 2022 and registered with the Election Commission of Nepal on 1 July 2022, ahead of the 2022 Nepalese general election. The RSP was the fourth-largest national party in Nepal following the 2022 election.
History
Foundation and early years (2022–2025)
On 16 June 2022, Rabi Lamichhane resigned as managing director of Galaxy 4K television and announced that he would be contesting in the 2022 general elections for a seat at the House of Representatives. On 21 June 2022, he announced the formation of Rastriya Swatantra Party along with a 21-member central committee. The party was formally registered in the Election Commission on 1 July 2022 with Rabi Lamichhane as the founding president and a bell inside a circle as its election symbol.The party field candidates in 131 constituencies for the 2022 general election, but did not contest the provincial elections. The party won seven direct seats and 13 proportional seats to the House of Representatives. It received 10.70% of the party list vote and became one of seven national parties in the Federal Parliament. Following the election, the party joined the coalition government of Pushpa Kamal Dahal with party president Rabi Lamichhane serving as deputy prime minister. Indira Rana Magar from the party was elected as the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives.
The party withdrew from the cabinet after Lamichhane's citizenship was declared invalid by the Supreme Court, but continued to support the government. Following the decision, Dol Prasad Aryal became acting president of the party. The party replaced list MP Dhaka Kumar Shrestha and expelled him from the party following corruption accusations.
The party contested the by-elections in 2023 and gained a seat in Tanahun 1 while Lamichhane was re-elected from Chitwan 2. 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. The party expelled general secretary Mukul Dhakal from the party for violating party rules.
Party president Lamichhane was arrested in October 2024 following accusations of cooperative fraud and Dol Prasad Aryal served as acting president.. In June 2025, Kabindra Burlakoti was appointed as general secretary and Manish Jha was appointed as party spokesperson.
Gen Z protests (2025–present)
Following the Gen Z protests, former MP Sumana Shrestha resigned from the party. Chief whip Santosh Pariyar also left the party and joined the Pragatisheel Loktantrik Party. In December 2025, Bibeksheel Sajha Party merged into the party. The party also signed an agreement to merge with Ujyaalo Nepal Party and also to bring in Kathmandu mayor Balen Shah into the party. The agreement with Ujyaalo Nepal Party later collapsed and the merger did not go ahead.Organization
The party had announced that it would have no sister organizations and only have members, not cadres. It had also announced that primary elections would be held to select candidates for elections from the party. The party selected candidates for the 2022 general election through a primary election.Ideology
The party supports constitutional socialism, market socialism, progressivism, political pragmatism, participatory democracy, economic liberalism and political freedom. The party has been described as centrist by different members within the party.Policy platform
Natural order of the economy
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 that economic 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.Electoral reform
It also supports the introduction of recall elections, the right to reject and a provision for absentee ballots. The party also supports a directly elected prime minister and directly elected chief ministers for the seven provinces of Nepal.The party in its manifesto for the 2022 elections also supported the idea of a non-partisan president 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 the National Assembly acting as the de facto vice-president. 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 of provincial 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 the 2022 provincial elections.
Economic and social welfare
The party sees the private sector, co-operatives and the public sector as the three pillars of the economy. The party favors competition 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 establish food banks in every ward in the country and to guarantee nutrition assistance for people living under the poverty line by issuing them ration cards. The party also seeks to expand the current social welfare system and to include private insurance companies in the social welfare system.Healthcare
The party supports the establishment of a single-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 national ambulance 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.Corruption
The party seeks to crackdown on corruption by introducing a Whistleblower Protection Act to protect whistleblowers and by establishing an Anti-Corruption Police under the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority.Women and sexual minorities
The party has also called for the establishment of shelters for victims of abuse and the creation of a fund to help victims of human trafficking, domestic violence and acid attack victims. The party also seeks to promote entrepreneurship among women and sexual minorities by establishing funds for businesses where at least sixty percent of the shareholders or employees are female or of a sexual minority group.Electoral performance
2022 general election
The party nominated 131 candidates for the First Past the Post seats for the 2022 Nepalese general election.Leadership
Party Chairman
Deputy Chairman
Joint Secretary
- Sumana Shrestha
- Deepak Bohara
Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Party
Chief Whip
General secretary
- Mukul Dhakal
- Kabindra Burlakoti
Spokesperson
Members of Parliament
Pratinidhi Shabha (2022-dissolution)
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 | Position Created | Chitwan 2 | ||||
| 1. | Rabi Lamichhane | 12 September 2025 | Dol Prasad Aryal | Chitwan 2 | |||
| 2. | Swarnim Wagle | 12 September 2025 | Ram Chandra Poudel | Tanahun 1 | |||
| 3. | Sumana Shrestha | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 4. | Dol Prasad Aryal | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 5. | Manish Jha | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 6. | Biraj Bhakta Shrestha | 12 September 2025 | Jeevan Ram Shrestha | Kathmandu 8 | |||
| 7. | Toshima Karki | 12 September 2025 | Pampha Bhusal | Lalitpur 3 | |||
| 8. | Hari Dhakal | 12 September 2025 | Surendra Pandey | Chitwan 1 | |||
| 9. | Shishir Khanal | 12 September 2025 | Bhimsen Das Pradhan | Kathmandu 6 | |||
| 10. | Sobita Gautam | 12 September 2025 | Madhav Kumar Nepal | Kathmandu 2 | |||
| 11. | Ganesh Parajuli | 12 September 2025 | Rambir Manandhar | Kathmandu 7 | |||
| 12. | Santosh Pariyar | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 13. | Indira Ranamagar | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 14. | Chanda Karki | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 15. | Nisha Dangi | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 16. | Asim Shah | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 17. | Shiva Nepali | 22 December 2022 | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | ||
| 18. | Ashok Kumar Chaudhary | 22 December 2022 | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | ||
| 19. | Binita Kathayat | 22 December 2022 | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | ||
| 20. | Laxmi Tiwari | 12 September 2025 | - | elected as a proportional representative | |||
| 21. | Bindabasini Kansakar | 22 December 2022 | 12 September 2025 | Dhaka Kumar Shrestha | elected as a proportional representative |