The outline for Lamichhane to be the party president and Balen to be the prime ministerial candidate has been finalized, while discussions are underway on the candidates, the roles of the central committee, and the election symbol.
What you should know
Discussions are ongoing between the parties of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) President Ravi Lamichhane and Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Balendra (Balen) Shah for political cooperation. The group tasked with preparing the 'modality' to bring Lamichhane and Balen together has decided to meet again on Saturday after the discussions held late on Friday failed to reach a conclusion.
Former education minister Shishir Khanal and former MP Asim Shah from the RSVP and his advisor Kumar Ben and personal secretary Bhupdev Shah from Balen had been in discussions since Friday morning. ‘The discussions are positive, but some issues have not been finalized,’ said a RSVP leader. ‘We will meet again tomorrow (Saturday) for discussions, after which Raviji and Balenji themselves will sit together and the agreement will take final shape.’
Leaders of both parties had prepared the first draft on Friday afternoon. It has been prepared that Lamichhane will be the RSVP president and that Balen will be the prime minister if he gets a majority in the parliament. RSVP leaders claim that Lamichhane is ready for this.
Some proposals regarding the proportional and direct candidates put forward by the Balen faction have not been finalized. An RSVP leader informed that discussions are also underway regarding the election symbol. According to him, there were technical difficulties in finalizing the understanding as Mayor Balen was busy with a program in Kathmandu Metropolitan City on Friday. "We will discuss it again tomorrow and decide," said an aide of Balen.
RSP President Lamichhane had discussed cooperation with Balen from 7 pm to 1 am on Monday. RSP leaders had proposed that Balen could be made the prime minister, but there was no clear proposal from Lamichhane.
Later, upon reaching Chitwan, Lamichhane denied the discussion, saying that it had not reached that stage. After that, Balen had started discussions to take the Desh Bikas Party, whose election symbol is a stick, forward under his leadership. Balen had held political meetings at the house of Kumar Ben in Jwagal, Lalitpur, who had been supporting him since before he filed his candidacy for mayor, from Wednesday afternoon to late Thursday.
During this, he met leaders of various political parties, doctors, retired employees, entrepreneurs, Gen-G activists, and media persons. During those meetings, he sought suggestions saying that he was trying to move forward through a new party. During that time, he also said that he was preparing a list for proportional representation.
After Balen started his political homework, RSP President Lamichhane reached Jwagal on Thursday and met him again. After that, the second-ranked leaders of both sides were engaged in discussions to bring Balen and Lamichhane together.
If there is an agreement between the two parties, both parties will have a share in the candidates from proportional representation to direct representation. The Balen side has proposed that there should be 50 percent representation at every level, starting from the candidates. The RSP side has not yet finalized this issue. ‘If there is no agreement, Balenji will move forward through the Desh Bikas Party,’ said an aide of Balen, ‘Balenji is clear that he will unite together, not just form an alliance.’
