NP ANALYSIS : Rabi Lamichhane  and his Rastriya swatantranParty(RSP), which emerged through last November’s election with the slogan of ‘good governance’ and ‘moral politics’, have defeated even the established dishonest parties by showing their desire for power and more power. Rabi Lamichhane, who lost the position of MP, Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Parliamentary Party Leader and Party Chairman with the Supreme Court’s verdict on the citizenship dispute, has he not seen how hungry he is for power and position since he tried to return to all positions within two days? This is the biggest straight fact that the common people need to understand today.

It is difficult to experience in practice what is easily seen in the constitution, laws and bylaws. The parties, forces and leaders who claim to be the leaders of the kind of trend change that the people expected, the kind of direction that was given by the people’s movement, struggle, rebellion, have not been able to respect and institutionalize the change while maintaining its dignity. They have established themselves as a new ruler and a new version of the old trend by appealing to public sentiment.” Ravi Lamichhane, by submitting false citizenship, has come to light in 36 days after he was elected MP and 22 days after he became the head of the home administration. It was not Deuba, Oli or Prachanda, who were once again called worthless, who brought out his true face. The Supreme Court’s senior-most 5-judge constitutional bench has unanimously ruled that Lamichhane has fooled the mass by submitting false citizenship information.

Rabi, who has been violating the country’s constitution and all kinds of laws, was re-elected as the party’s general member, central member and chairman of the party on the same day after he regained his citizenship according to the order of the Supreme Court. Such an incident was never done by any of the old political parties and leaders of Nepal. While the investigation of Lamichhane’s dual passport by the home ministry administration is not over yet. Not only that, on Sunday he met UML President KP Sharma Oli and Prime Minister Prachanda and demanded that he be made Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister again on Sunday. Oli is encouraging him in this demand. But the Prime Minister has advised to Lamichhane not to rush until the issue of dual citizenship is resolved and the full text of the court is received.

Isn’t there a serious question that this is the way of governance of the new party? Shouldn’t good governance mean not doing anything to influence or weaken an accusation or a case while the investigation is going on? Rabi is trying to do that. An official of the coalition partner UML said, “No, now Rabi is feeling insecure, that’s why the home ministry should be given to him or to the person he has appointed.” What does this confirm? Not only that, the question has also arisen whether the rest of his party’s 20 members and 19 MPs are rubber-stamp lizards of Ravi Lamichhane or conscious human beings. The fact that the rest of the parliamentarians and the central committee of the RSP stood on the issue of making a non-member of parliament, who is being investigated for criminal charges and was recently punished for fake citizenship, as the home minister, is just a reflection of Rabi Lamichhane’s gimmick, who shouted that the old party was ‘authoritarian’ and ‘undemocratic’.

News headlines like “Three meetings in one day in RSP: Ravi make Chairman within two hours of joining the party” have made Chitwan residents, especially Lamichhane’s voters, angry. It has become clear that this is the result of his party’s lack of policy. Policy is the ground to stand on and the pot to hold. But for Rabi, all these things are unimportant. Now Rabi must stand before the mass and say that what I said yesterday when I was not an MP or did not form a political party is a lie. What I am doing now, the way I have behaved is correct. Both these things cannot be true at the same time. Or is it not necessary to tell the voters which of these two sides is true?

In the case of Ravi’s citizenship, the judiciary, which is the final guardian of the constitution and the law, has made it clear to everyone that no one is above the law in spite of many disputes and limitations. This is also a new anomaly of Nepal’s constitution. In the scope of this judgment, investigations may be conducted on the officials of various agencies of the state and other leaders who are in secret status. For that again, the awareness of conscious citizens is needed. But with this decision, the Nepalese who are living abroad who love the citizenship of their own country have taken the citizenship of another country as well. There is no reason for them to be disturbed or panicked. Preparations are being made to issue non-resident citizenship to non-resident Nepalis. Let’s discuss about this later.

Rabi’s citizenship-passport issue has not only exposed the executive bodies of the state power, their inefficiency has also been exposed. Especially the incompetence and incompetence of the Election Commission is lacking no matter how much you condemn it. Rabi’s citizenship issue should have been decided by the Election Commission at the very beginning. Before that, when the issue of his dual citizenship and passport came up in 2018, the organizations to which he submitted his citizenship, naturally, those organizations should have checked whether his citizenship was renewed or old. If that had been done, Rabi would have regained his citizenship as easily as he is now. There would not have been so many stunts and stress on the common people across the country, and the enemies of Nepal would not have had the opportunity to take advantage of this weakness to reach the state power.

On what moral grounds did Ravi claim the Ministry of Home Affairs while forming the coalition government? Or why did the UML, one of the major coalition partner, easily put him in the home ministry? Why did Oli give Rabi the Ministry of Home Affairs when he learned that CK Raut was asking for a ministry, that too for industry and trade ? Did Oli offer Rabi a DPM with home ministry with sub just to stage the drama of the current situation? Even without Rabi’s party, the current coalition government could have been formed easily. Therefore, how will the Maoist Center and the UML, the two big partner parties of the  coalition gornment, walk with their teeth showing? Or has not a serious question arisen as to why KP Oli, the head of this alliance, has been promoting Rabi since the beginning? Even more funny was Subhas Nemwang’s presentation of the Constitution by showing the face of the law. To add to that, UML General Secretary Shankar Pokharel has arrived. He expressed his anger saying why the court decided Rabi’s case so quickly. When there is some hope like Pokharel, when the leaders also spend day and night like this and put good governance forever in the stinking canal of bad governance, how can hope be reawakened in the people for the old parties?

Before his swearing-in, no one being could have believed that Ravi Lamichhane would become the Home Minister. How can the same person, whose citizenship and passport are being investigated by the police under the Ministry of Home Affairs, be appointed as the Home Minister, was on everyone’s mind. Many people were surprised when he took the oath from the President’s Office naming him as Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, standing on the line of Narayankaji shrestha and Vishnu Paudai.

Even though the government was formed under  any one of  established part’s leadership, Rabi was trying to join the government. For that he was running to Arju Deuba, Oli and Prachanda’s residence frequently.  Finally, he became the Minister of Home Affairs under the leadership of Prachanda, who was the most criticized person in his life.

As soon as Ravi became the home minister, the police did not just put the investigation against him in a small drawer, but when the answer was sent to the court and until the court debate, the CDO office and the attorney general’s office stood on his side, and the bad model of the work of the organs of our state mechanism was displayed again. Because this is not the first case where employees and security officials have taken apolitical and unconstitutional demands from any kind of ruler in such cases.

The state system of Nepal has also attacked the minimum dignity and value of the democratic state that even though the rulers are worthless in general, the state system runs according to the constitution and law. That too in the context of the Rabi case.

What can be said about Rabi, who sings songs and shouts using puns and puns saying that Nimukha ( very common man) will be subject to the law and that those in power have been exempted from any kind of crime, that our governance system is saluting him. No matter how beautiful a name is given to the governance system of those who are in government and power under the guise of democracy and dedicated to the service of their loved ones, it cannot be called democracy. Unfortunately, Ravi Lamichhane, who claimed to be the forerunner of new faces, had the audacity to misuse the State mechanism, which did not come out of the Panchayati tendecies  of the nascent democracy, to fulfill his own interests. But because he could not reach the court, he went to Thrown down in the street. Otherwise, the issue of Indian citizenship of Congress leader and former minister Devendra Raj Kandel has been stuck somewhere in the constitutional debate for years. Due to the fact that the status and access of Devendra Raj could not be established and the court reached the level where it could not run away from the questions raised in general, Rabi’s citizenship dispute was decided with priority. Most of the media in Nepal have no desire to discuss the issue of Devendraraj Kandel’s dual citizenship and Indian citizenship. Because there is no dispute that the majority of our main stream media and the power elites represented by Devendra Raj are the same strata.

Another question has arisen whether Rabi himself, his party and other political parties and the entire parliament are aware of the general ethos that a person accused of serious criminal charges cannot enter the government without being acquitted by the court or paying the sentence given by the court. Maybe if this situation is attractive to other parliamentarians and any high officials, then any citizen receiving such information needs to make it a main legal issue. This issue should not be limited to anti-Rabi rumors in any case.

Let’s imagine in such a situation if Rabi was running a program on the TV Galaxy which is said to be owned by one of the presenters of a TV and if any parliamentarian, minister or leader of a party was accused about the passport issue like Rabi, what kind of words would he raise? In other words, he would have been bragging as if he alone broke the incident. In other words, he would definitely oppose it. No one has differnt opinions on this. Moreover, he repeated thousands of times in his own words, calling them ‘criminals called Pangdure leaders’, and he would not hesitate to say that those leaders should be ‘broken off the bridge of their noses’ and hanged.

A serious question arises as to why a ‘clever’ person like Rabi would have done that. Rabi is in a hurry to go home ministry because of the fear of the questions resounding in the home ministry like the fire of chaff in the past, when he ran the program called ‘Sidhakura,’ about his relationship with the crusher businessmen, his interest in bargaining, sand mining and water boring businessmen and his acting in favor of the Nepalese abroad. There is a big public opinion. Moreover, Dol Prasad Aryal, who was used in the same job, was made the Labor Minister and one of his cunning guy as the head of the  personal secretory appointed after that  in people’s  mind playing suspicions to Rabi. It remains to be seen how he will respond to these questions in the future or how he will deal with them. But this is also a simple and straight thing that people should understand.

In this context, it would be more appropriate not to speak ill of the country’s constitution and laws because some  gangsters of his brothers and sisters who are jealous of Rabi’s progress have opposed it.

In the meantime, the votes won by Rabi and his party would definitely warn the old rulers from the streets. He should not have licked the juice of the state power by brokering negotiations with the government in such a hurry. In this way, he dashed the hopes of voters who would vote by ringing the bell. Instead of reining in the apolitical alliances of the old  party and their tendency to do anything for the chair, Rabi was ready to become a ladder himself in order to make them even more loyal. And  he is playing in the arms of the old ruler.

Dr. sundar mani Dixit  who is also a voter of the RSP a week ago told to  ABC television. “A very big betrayal has happened to all of us. He is regretting that he voted for the one who said he would rule Nepali people with an American passport.

When Rabi joined the coalition government, nothing was included in the letter of commitment, which was filled with  meaning less buzz word as well terminology. There is only a summary of the UML’s election manifesto. In addition, Prime Minister Prachanda’s desire is covered in beautiful words. The rest has no agenda. Only by suppressing the sound of the bell ringing with fear in Rabi’s heart, will the people understand the simple fact that he went to the coalition government, or will they continue to malign the same dishonest trend by repeating Prachanda-Oli ? If a situation like Rabi’s had happened to any leader or MP of NC, UML or MC, the voters would have been able to question the leaders of those parties in their districts.

Is there a place where the voters of Chitwan or those who vote proportionally from all over the country can say why Rabi did such dishonesty to any questioning body or place or any district head of his party?

Yes, Ukraine is an example of how the country cannot be governed by this kind of political clowns. Volodymyr Zelensky, who was elected president of Ukraine, was a TV comedian. He felt that comedy and the rule of the country or war were the same. Almost 100 million people have become refugees and more than 100,000 people have been killed due to their childish insistence on joining Ukraine in NATO and showing  power to Putin and the Russia. The country itself has gone towards the collapse. We  don’t need to look for a more beautiful example elsewhere in the world to understand that a vote of anger by the people will lead to the death of the people.

What did Rabi do? Like the old party, he made man from his own pocket as ministers. Even on top of that, there has been a smell of social misbehavior from self-interest. In this way, if the common people do not understand that Rabi’s appearance in the parliament in the name of the new one followed in the footsteps of the old ones and amassed power and wealth and held on to the Nepali environment where they can still talk about anything, then the people and those who follow him will suffer the most. . Is it otherwise to say that the country will be forced to suffer another ruler standing on the wave of badass?

Ravi has not been acquitted of the charge of obtaining a Nepali passport by submitting false information while holding an American passport. This matter is more serious dishonesty and false crime than dual citizenship. There should be a realistic investigation into the use of dual passports. Prime Minister Prachanda is formally responsible for investigating the complaint and taking the case to court. Hugely happiest Oli cannot put unnecessary pressure on Prachanda for this case . Only if Ravi himself takes the role of ending this dispute quickly, some of his remaining branches can be saved.

This time, the fact that Ravi has taken a Nepali passport even though he has an American passport has been recorded in the constitutional court by the debating lawyers. During the debate, after Ravi’s lawyer, Senior Advocate Narendra Gautam, tried to change the subject by insisting that the passport was not the subject of the writ, Judge Ishwar Khatiwada on the bench asked, “You mentioned the issue of the passport.” Isn’t it an established fact that Ravi Lamichhane took American citizenship, made a new passport in 2015 using Nepali citizenship that was no longer valid, and gave up his American passport in 2018? ”

Is it possible to make a passport by submitting non-permanent Nepali citizenship? It is certainly not acceptable to consider such a subject as an intellectual luxury of courtiers.

Now let’s look at the context in which he got and lost and regained citizenship.

Ravi Lamichhane took American citizenship in 2015. In Section 10(1) of Nepal’s Citizenship Act, 2063, there is a provision that Nepali citizenship is automatically revoked after taking foreign citizenship voluntarily. After taking American citizenship, his old Nepali citizenship was not retained, so it was not recognized.

Lamichhane renounced US citizenship in 2075 BS. The Supreme Court has ruled that Lamichhane has not completed the process to regain Nepali citizenship. According to the brief explanation of the Supreme Court, after he renounced his US citizenship, he did not submit the application with the details to the district administration office. That’s why his old citizenship remained in a ‘non-permanent’ state.

The Supreme Court has clearly decided that Lamichhane is eligible to become a Nepali citizen but has not obtained a citizenship certificate. But Lamichhane did not hesitate to show the dishonesty of garnering sympathy by saying that he was ‘non citizen’. He has shown that there is no improvement in his stuntman character by taking some vigilantes to the streets. Because he did not get the citizenship certificate, he was freed from the position (Member of Parliament, Minister and membership of his said party) obtained by exercising his political rights.

It is necessary for everyone to understand that since the old citizenship certificate submitted by Lamichhane during the election nomination process was not recognized, the MP and ministerial positions based on it were also lost. After he regains his citizenship, he can enjoy all the rights like other Nepali citizens. But the position which was canceled due to lack of citizenship certificate does not automatically come with taking citizenship.

Lamichhane took Nepalese citizenship in 2050 BS on the basis of descent. In 29 Janauray, he got back his citizenship certificate, which was not permanent after taking US citizenship. Since the old citizenship is ‘maintained’, his situation is now the same as other Nepali citizens.

According to legal experts, he should not be exempted from the fear of being punished according to the prevailing law as he cheated the state by lying about his situation.

According to the claim of those legal practitioners, he participated in the election as a Nepali citizen and was elected. They have voted by being included in the voter’s list. As Home Minister, he gave access to sensitive information of the state. Or unnecessarily, he took a access in the sensitivities of the state. He should be punished according to the prevailing law for the crime of subverting the state and that matter cannot be made secondary under any circumstances.

Regarding criminal charges

Ravi Lamichhane got American citizenship in 2070. After returning to Nepal for various reasons, Lamichhane decided to fulfill his ambition through television talk program, and that too was not a big deal. Earlier, a program in praise of the then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli called ‘Sidha Kura Pradhanmantri Sang’ was run on Nepal Television with government funds. Prachanda, who replaced Oli and became the prime minister, removed him and started  praised through his party workers. This is a natural phenomenon.

From this point he became more negative towards Prachanda and soft corner towards Oli. He started a program called ‘Sidhakura Janata Sanga’ on a private television under the sponsorship of an advertising agency in response to the government not allowing the singing of hymns by the heads of government. This is also fine. But after the Press Council was started in his citizenship and passport, he renounced his US citizenship from Nepal only in 2075 BS. This is also fine.

But before that, in the year 2073BS, after getting American citizenship, he made a Nepali passport from ‘non-permanent’ Nepali citizenship. He pretended to the state that he was an American citizen. From 2073BS to 2075BS, he kept the passports of two countries together with him. Sometimes he used American and sometimes Nepalese passports according to his convenience.

It is clear that Lamichhane took a passport based on his Nepalese citizenship which was not maintained in 2073. This is a criminal offense in the eyes of Nepal’s constitution and existing laws. Section 21(a) of the Passport Act, 2076 clearly states that if a passport is obtained by giving false information, it is considered an offence. The Passport Act provides for a fine of 2 to 5 lakhs, imprisonment for 1 to 3 years or both if it is confirmed that false information has been given.

The complaint that Lamichhane’s citizenship and passport should be investigated is still in the process of action at the District Administration Office, Kathmandu. Regarding the complaint that he had taken the passport by giving false information, the district administration office Kathmandu has written to the district police office in Kathmandu for investigation. There is no point in making a Tara Baral-style (one of his extreme supporter)spectacle on the streets that there is corruption from the state side somewhere in this matter. That is not the established and lawful way of our democracy.

Now let’s talk about the court order and Rabi’s future

After acquiring the citizenship of a foreign country, the citizenship of Nepal does not remain and such a person can acquire the citizenship of Nepal after renouncing the citizenship of a foreign country, but not automatically, the process must be completed for this. The Constitutional Court of the Supreme Court has given a clear decision on the writ petition filed against Ravi Lamichhane regarding dual citizenship.

After the Supreme Court’s decision that Nepali citizenship is not maintained automatically, Ravi Lamichhane, who had almost reached the peak of politics as a talisman, felt down the bottom. If he is cleared in the case of dual passport use against him, he will be able to return to politics. But using a dual passport is considered a criminal charge by the law of Nepal. If there is a decision according to that, Lamichhane will have to suffer the punishment. On the basis of his Nepali citizenship, which he had renounced while maintaining his American citizenship, he also took a Nepali passport and used the passports of both countries for three years. This in itself is a matter that attracts a criminal case.

Last November, a complaint was filed with the Ministry of Home Affairs requesting an investigation into the fact that Lamichhane was using the citizenship and passport of two countries at the same time. The District Administration Office sent a letter to the Kathmandu Police Complex regarding the complaint received from the Ministry of Home Affairs. But after Lamichhane became the chief of police i.e. Home Minister, the investigation on him was stopped. Now, if the allegations are found to be true by the police investigation, the case should be prosecuted in the district court through the district public prosecutor’s office. No matter how the case ends, it would be most appropriate for Lamichhane himself to help the investigation and be patient for political activism until the logical conclusion of this accusation is reached. But he did what he did to destroy his own case by becoming the home minister. Looking at that, there is not much room to expect patience and restraint from Lamichhane.

If Lamichhane is sincere, he should prove the rumors that Lamichhane will go back to the government through the constitutional arrangement that allows even non-MPs to become ministers for six months as soon as he regains his citizenship. He should not have the audacity to take public responsibility until the investigation of the matter, which is considered a criminal offence, is completed. Lamichhane and the RSP formed by him should be careful not only to protect the reputation of the new party, which has emerged advocating for good governance, but also to protect the essence of moral politics.

‘It is clear what the rabies are doing today or who they have connived with. The word independent used in the name of the RSP refers to supporting independent, non-party and single candidacy. It means that if it is necessary to implement the rule of law in the state and make a positive change in the standard of living of the common people, it is free to use and abandon any argument, idea, theory as a tool, being independent from any traditional theoretical argument or idea.’ If necessary, Rabi’s undertaking has confirmed that he will do the same. If something feels right to him, he has openly made the policy of the party to adopt it with anyone and regardless of the background and ideology.

Today, behind the criticism of the Congress and the Communists, it is because they acted beyond the declared ideas and policies. But there is no idea of Rabi’s party here. If he thinks this idea or method is right now, that is his policy. As he became a candidate in Chitwan 3, the advice given by Oli and Lingden against Prachanda became his theory at the beginning. Later, it became a theory that Chitwan should move to constituency no 2 instead of 3. After the unexpected success in the election, making Prachanda the prime minister and being his employee became the right principle.

Even if he talks about the rule of law, the dishonesty of allowing a non-MP to become a minister for 6 months has become his current principle. Before becoming a member of Parliament, it was customary for him to hold the citizenship of two countries. Rabi still thinks that carrying a dual passport is also compliance with the law and good governance. More than that, there was no need to discuss about the cultural deviations and behaviors adopted by him to show Nepali ease when he was a laborer in America. Did Rabi disrespect that such questions were asked to him from the roof of the Supreme Court and from the street at the same time?

But Rabi heard the verdict. He immediately made the controversial Dol Prasad the party chairman and parliamentary party leader at the same time. Even though he was not physically present in that meeting, why is the drama made ? It must have pissed him off. Talking about democracy and transparency, forming a new party because Deuba, Oli and Prachanda did not do the same thing, but in practice the practice of running the party in a more dictatorial and authoritarian style than the old ones will certainly not make his future brighter. He can also set a new standard if he takes the path of helping the investigation of Rabi, especially the dual passport user, and ending it as soon as possible, respecting the court’s decision. However, the Nepali proverb of ‘Khutti Dekhtai Taha Pyayo’ is now being used in a rude way by the voters of Chitwan 2 who are not expecting much. All these apprehensions and undertakings will be visible in these few days and weeks. Let’s hope again that the suspicions about him are proven wrong, lets wish Rabi is right !