Rastriya Swatantra Party Changes Political Ideology from Constitutional Socialism to Social Democracy

Kathmandu. Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has changed its political ideology.

Party President Rabi Lamichhane stated in the political report presented at the closed session that social democracy will be the future political ideology from constitutional socialism.

Democratic values, competitive economy, strong institutions, and accountable governance are considered complementary to each other.

Now I will briefly discuss the proposed policies and ideas-
When we announced our establishment, we decided to make constitutional socialism the party's ideology. And the manifesto stated - 'Constitutional socialism is to establish a society as envisioned by the constitution of Nepal through the rule of law.'
The resolution passed by the Jaleshwor meeting states, 'The commitment to govern the state based on national policies and programs in accordance with the constitution, by establishing the main goals of socialism through peaceful means, is interpreted as constitutional socialism, and decisive action will be taken against all forms of structural discrimination including gender, caste, class, and regional discrimination that exist as an unpleasant historical legacy.'
So far, all the documents of RSP have not clearly explained constitutional socialism, it was only accepted as an ideology. But there were some valid questions about it.
• Is it constitutionalism to operate within the constitution by accepting it, or does it have its own policy, plan, and program?
• Can socialism be achieved from within this system just because 'socialism' is written in the constitution? If yes, how, if not, why?
• The constitution is a document of agreement between the political forces at that time. There are demands for sufficient amendments. That is, from the perspective of public desire, the constitution always demands completeness. Amendments are inevitable every 5/10 years. How will the goals be achieved by accepting such a document, which requires periodic amendment, as a 'ism' itself?
While seeking clear answers to these valid questions, we have today reached the conclusion that it is not appropriate to adopt the constitution itself as a 'ism' or ideology. This does not mean rejection of the constitution at all. Rather, based on the stability and strengthening of the achievements so far, the current socio-economic situation of Nepal, and the analysis of the basic character of the state expected by the citizens, we have concluded to adopt social democracy as the party's main political ideology.