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By Sunil KC

With the case of Ravi Lamichhane poised to get prolonged and his legal entanglements getting more complex, questions have arisen about how the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) will move ahead in the absence of its forceful party president, if Lamichhane is convicted in the many cases he is charged with, and is put away. Already, Lamichhane’s seat in the parliament has been suspended after a recommendation of the Kaski district attorney’s office, and the party has appointed a new acting president.

The Kaski district attorney’s office on Sunday presented its case to the district court indicating him on at least three different charges of misappropriation of funds of Suryadarshan Cooperative of Kaski, organized crime and money laundering or earning money and assets through illegal means demanding a fine of almost Rs. 280 million. He and more than 60 others have been accused of misappropriation totalling more than Rs. 1 billion. There will be more charges and legal battles in at least four other districts where he is accused of being an accomplice in the fraud of cooperative funds.

The public prosecutor has also demanded a maximum prison time of 24 years under various charges and a hefty fine. The district attorney’s office also indicated his wife Nikita Poudel and four others and demanded the confiscation of their property and assets charging them with those being gained illegally. The court proceedings against those cases will begin shortly.

One major concern is whether the party that emerged as the fourth largest party in the last general election will end like the previous Bibekshil Sajha Party, a party that tried to bring together young professionals and intellectuals who thought enough was enough of the political instability and rampant corruption in the last thirty years. That party with an almost non-existent political base was battered badly in the previous general election.

Since the country was declared a republic almost two decades ago, the three main parties – Nepali Congress, CPN-UML and the Maoist communist party – have always held the reins of power engaging in horse-trading amongst each other to be in the seat of power. They would make and break the government on personal whim and personal political gains of mainly their three leaders- Sher Bahadur Deuba of Nepali Congress, KP Oli of CPN-UML and Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka Prachanda of the Maoist party. However, they would always gang up together against any threat to their grasp of political power and political dominance.

A lot changed in the last local election when Kathmandu elected an independent candidate Balen Shah as its mayor and similarly, two independents were elected – Harkha Sampang in Dharan in east Nepal and Gopi Hamal in Dhangadhi in the far west. With his different approach to how a metropolitan should be run and sometimes with brazen tactics Balen Shah succeeded in changing the outlook of Kathmandu city – be it in managing the city’s garbage problem demolishing unauthorized buildings or those built by encroaching public land or managing the parking – in direct confrontation with the government or the three parties that were ruling the roost for the last 20 years. All these changes and the positive public and media opinion threatened the mainstream parties that their grasp on the country’s political mantle might be slipping away.

Then, on the eve of the last general election emerged the Rastriya Swatantra Party. In the first election, it contested and gave the main parties a scare, becoming the fourth-largest party in the parliament winning several seats in Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts. Several of its members like Sumana Shrestha, Dr. Toshima Karki, Shovita Gautam, Swarnim Wagle and Manish Jha seem to give fresh air to the parliamentary debates, especially Sumana Shrestha with her astute and perceptive analysis of parliamentary proceedings and discussions on bills, and later as Education Minister laid a framework and vision to radically improve education environment, especially in higher education. On top of that, its president Ravi Lamichhane coming out forefront against corruption at the highest level of the government caught the people’s eyes and attention giving hope that a new set of young professionals and intellectuals is ready to take over the political mantle of the country.

But the government’s vigour and urgency on this case, but apparent apathy on other high profile cases of alleged corruption and misuse of power, indicate the three major political parties are not giving up their grasp on the political mantle so easily. And that they will fight tooth and nail to prevent any new political party or entity from coming up to challenge their political monocracy. Some even perceive this case with Lamichhane on the cross-hair could be a sinister plot to stop the possible rise of RSP in the election in about two years’ time.

Now, if the Rastriya Swatantra Party, following Lamichhane’s debacle, fails to come up strong and fall like nine-pins as some others, the quest for a new political force, this or the other, for good governance and against corruption will be a far cry for years to come.