Lamichhane stresses policy over personality during Chitwan visit
In Chitwan for party meetings, RSP Chairman Rabi Lamichhane said policy should come before individuals and that his party questions the government rather than endorsing every decision.
Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Chairman Rabi Lamichhane arrived in Chitwan on Thursday, November 5, for party meetings and a visit to erosion-hit riverbank areas. Speaking to journalists at Bharatpur Airport, he said that although he had come late to Chitwan, policy work was under way there, and that in his thinking the system should come before the individual.
According to Setopati and Gorkhapatra, Lamichhane said that although he as an individual had come late, the party's structure and the government's policies were reaching across the country. "That is our aim too. Rather than individuals coming, policy should come. The flow of state policy is continuing," he said.
According to Minimadhav Khanal, the RSP's Chitwan chair, Lamichhane was to join organizational discussions with district, regional and local office-bearers at the party office soon after arriving. Gorkhapatra reported that he would take part in programmes in Chitwan until Friday, and planned to view the eroding banks of the Narayani River on Friday morning and hold talks with the people concerned.
On the party's relationship with the government, Nagarik News and Setopati reported that Lamichhane said the RSP does not see it as its job to endorse every government decision. He described the party's role as keeping watch on the government's work, asking questions where needed and seeking further clarity.
Asked by a journalist whether the RSP was unhappy with the government's reshuffle of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Lamichhane said changes of responsibility in the security agencies are sensitive, and that justifying any decision is the government's responsibility. According to Nagarik News, he said the party had put serious questions to the government and asked it to explain, and he recalled that the party spokesperson had already said the party had no role in the reshuffle. Whether the reshuffle and the party's questions are connected, he said, the government would say when the time came. "Government bodies are free to exercise the authority the law gives them," he said.
Lamichhane said that questions raised about a government decision should not be read as conflict between the party and the government. Setopati reported that he said there is no lack of coordination between them and that the party's view is that the government should be allowed to work well. He said his party is not in favour of the practice, aimed at keeping a government afloat or holding a party together, of a prime minister keeping a chair beside them for another person, and that the party and the government should each carry out their own responsibilities. He added that the party is clear about democratic values and, when needed, would play a part in bringing the government to the right path.