DP Aryal likely to become acting president of RSP

Kathmandu, December 23 — The Rashtriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is preparing to assign the role of acting president to vice-president DP Aryal.

A senior party leader informed that Aryal is likely to be given the responsibility of acting president. "DP Aryal will be given the responsibility of acting president," the leader stated, adding, "However, the party has not yet made an official decision."

According to the leader, a Secretariat meeting will be held today via Zoom. This meeting may decide to assign the acting president role to Aryal.

Aryal’s appointment as acting president has already been agreed upon by the party's vice-president, Swarnim Waglé, earlier.

"In a recent Central Committee meeting, Swarnim proposed that DP Aryal should become the acting president. Everyone agreed on this proposal," the leader explained. "So, now, it is almost certain that DP Aryal will be appointed as the acting president."

However, the party is still undecided about who should be appointed as the leader of the parliamentary party. The leader of the parliamentary party holds the potential to become the country’s prime minister. Therefore, the party is facing uncertainty about who should take on this responsibility, according to the leader.

Currently, Birajbhakta Shrestha holds the position of deputy leader of the parliamentary party. The party has not yet decided whether to give him the full responsibility of the leader or to appoint him as the acting leader.

"The issue of appointing the party leader has not been discussed yet," the leader said. "There has been no discussion yet about whether to give the responsibility to deputy leader Biraj or not."

Earlier, when the citizenship dispute led to Rabi Lamichhane losing his parliamentary seat, DP Aryal had assumed the role of party leader. Shrestha was not given the responsibility of the party leader at that time.

In another development, the District Government Attorney’s Office of Kaski filed a case against Lamichhane in relation to cooperative fraud on Sunday. Following this, RSP is preparing to appoint an acting president to manage the party's operations in Lamichhane’s absence.

The Kaski police informed Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Sunday that Lamichhane is facing three charges, including cooperative fraud. Due to ongoing money laundering charges, Lamichhane is expected to be automatically suspended from his parliamentary seat.

Meanwhile, according to the Federal Parliament Secretariat, Speaker Ghimire is in discussions, and a decision regarding the notification about Lamichhane’s position will be made on Monday.