Ministers resign from Nepal cabinet en-masse as rift inside ruling coalition intensifies; RSP withdraws from coalition government of PM Prachanda

Kathmandu: The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) on Sunday decided to withdraw from Nepal’s ruling coalition after Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ refused to reinstate the party’s flamboyant chairman Rabi Lamichhane as the home minister after he recently re-acquired his citizenship.
The decision was taken after a joint meeting of RSP’s central members and lawmakers.
Lamichhane, 48, was elected from Chitwan-2 constituency during the elections held in November last year.
He subsequently lost the status of a lawmaker following a verdict by Nepal’s Supreme Court on January 27, which stated that the citizenship certificate he produced to contest the parliamentary election was invalid, according to the Kathmandu Post newspaper.
Subsequently, he also lost his ministerial portfolio and the presidency of the party because one needs to be a Nepali citizen to hold those positions, it said.
On January 29, he re-acquired his citizenship, following which he met Prachanda and demanded that he be restored to his former Cabinet position, the report said.