Kathmandu: The announcement of the final results of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) central committee election was delayed until late Thursday night as election officials continued verifying votes cast from overseas.
Although the party’s Election Commission completed electronic vote counting and announced the preliminary vote totals for all candidates, the results did not include ballots cast by members living abroad. Deputy Chief Election Commissioner Ram Gurung said the final results would only be declared after integrating and verifying both electronic and online votes.
“The process has taken longer because votes cast through the technology-based system are being evaluated and verified before the final declaration,” Gurung said.
The election is being held to select 99 central committee members from a field of 379 candidates. Under the party’s statute, representation is based on provincial and inclusive quotas, with seats allocated according to the 2021 national census. The distribution includes representation for Khas Arya, Indigenous nationalities, Madhesis, Dalits, women and other marginalized communities.
Voting began late Wednesday night and continued throughout Thursday. After in-person electronic voting concluded, party members residing overseas cast their ballots through an online application.
According to party spokesperson Manish Jha, 2,959 of the 3,859 eligible voters inside Nepal participated in the election, recording a turnout of 76.8 percent. An additional 163 members abroad were eligible to vote, though the number of ballots received from overseas has not yet been disclosed.
Meanwhile, Rabi Lamichhane was the sole candidate for the party presidency and was elected unopposed. However, the party has yet to make a formal announcement of his unanimous election. His candidacy was proposed by Balendra Shah and supported by 51 party members.
The RSP has also amended its statute, expanding the Central Committee to 158 members. The new structure includes 19 office bearers, seven ex-officio provincial presidents, while the remaining members will be nominated by the party president.
Six office bearers will be elected directly from among the newly elected central committee members, with the remaining positions—including the senior vice-president—to be filled through presidential nomination.
The nomination process for office bearers has not yet begun, as it depends on the official declaration of the central committee election results. Election officials expect the final results to be announced once the verification of all domestic and overseas votes is completed.
