Balen and Rabi ink seven-point agreement – The Himalayan Times – Nepal’s No.1 English Daily Newspaper

KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 28

Following a series of meetings and dialogues, Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra (Balen) Shah and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chair finally inked a seven-point deal today.

Both Balen and Lamichhane shared an agreement endorsing their social media handles. “Consensus should be what the country needs, not what the leader wants,” Lamichhane wrote, posting their photo to Facebook.

The two leaders came to the eagerly awaited agreement early this morning.

“The agreement was reached around 4 o’clock in the morning today (Sunday) following a daylong meeting and discussion on Saturday,” KP Khanal, a Gen Z leader and team member of Balen, told THT.

However, the agreement was expected to be reached between Ujaayalo Nepal Party patron Kulman Ghising, Lamichhane and Balen. “Balen wanted to bring Kulman into the picture, but an agreement between Balen and Lamichhane was reached after Kulman could not be convinced,” Khanal said.

“While signing the agreement, Balen made it clear that RSP should be the right place for the people and youth in the right direction rather than requesting or wishing for a stake for his team.”

However, the agreement clearly states that Lamichhane will lead the party, while Balen will serve as parliamentary party leader and prime ministerial candidate if the party wins a majority in the upcoming House of Representatives elections on March 5.

Balen’s and RSP team posing for photos after signing the agreement on Sunday (today). Photo Courtesy: KP Khanal

SEVEN-POINT AGREEMENT

1. To embrace ownership of the youth-led movement against corruption and bad governance, as well as to commit to appropriately addressing the demands of the martyrs’ and injured families.
2. To commit to the sincere implementation of a roadmap to transform Nepal into a respectable middle-income country within the next ten years through deep policy, institutional, and structural reforms aimed at national prosperity and social justice, laying the groundwork for economic-social progress and cultured political practice.
3. Following broad unity between the first and second parties, the established political party will be known as the “Rastriya Swatantra Party”, with the same party flag: a blue background with a white circle in the centre containing a blue bell symbol; the election symbol will be the “bell”, and the central office will remain in Kathmandu Valley.
4. Rabi Lamichhane will continue to serve as the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s central chairperson, and Balendra Shah will be the parliamentary party leader and future prime minister candidate following the upcoming House of Representatives election.
5. To strengthen and broaden the party’s organisational structure following the grand unification, appropriate adjustments should be made to young activists and experienced experts, and responsibilities should be assigned based on competence, inclusiveness, and public perception.
6. Updating the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s documents in the Election Commission in accordance with this agreement.
7. To urge other cultured and transformative alternative political forces, groups, and individuals to rally around the Rastriya Swatantra Party’s principles, leadership, and election symbol, the ‘bell’, and advance the issues of democratic good governance, prosperity, and social justice.