KATHMANDU: Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) Member of Parliament Sumana Shrestha has stepped down from her position as the party’s Joint General Secretary, citing structural inefficiencies, unmet public expectations, and internal stagnation.
Shrestha had submitted her resignation on March 30—the same day party chair Rabi Lamichhane returned to work—though the decision became public only after Lamichhane was later jailed in a cooperative fraud case.
In her resignation letter, Shrestha offered a detailed explanation for her decision, pointing to structural inefficiencies within the party and what she called a disconnect between the party’s promises and its actual performance.
She argued that holding two full-time positions—federal MP and Joint General Secretary—was not humanly possible. As a member of the House of Representatives and a member of the Education and Information Technology Committee, she said her parliamentary duties required thorough research, stakeholder engagement, and legislative work.
Juggling this with the organizational responsibilities of a senior party post, she noted, was simply unmanageable.
Shrestha also expressed disillusionment over the RSP’s failure to deliver on the public’s high expectations. Despite the unprecedented support the party received during the previous election, she said the RSP had not lived up to its promises.
She highlighted the party’s inability to even complete basic tasks, such as data collection by municipal-level officials, and questioned how long the party could continue to exist without showing real results. This inability to deliver, she believes, stems in part from the party placing too much responsibility on too few individuals.
Another key issue she raised was what she described as a “very ritualistic process” within the party. She criticized the party culture that gave undue importance to hierarchy—such as the order of seating or speaking in meetings—and said it discouraged new ideas and stifled enthusiasm.
Shrestha, who has a background as a management consultant, emphasized the need for a merit-based, open environment where ideas are judged by their content rather than the position of the person expressing them.
She also lamented being sidelined in decision-making despite holding a top post. “Even when I urged action on urgent student issues in the House, my voice was ignored,” she said.
While reaffirming her commitment to her legislative duties, Shrestha emphasized the need for the RSP to walk its talk. “It’s not enough to claim we’re different from traditional parties while replicating their flaws,” she said.
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