KATHMANDU: Once a combative television host, Rabi Lamichhane is a key figure in Nepal’s shifting political order as his party forms a new government shaped by an anti-corruption youth uprising.
Lamichhane’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won a commanding mandate in the March 5 polls, the first since the deadly protests toppled the government in 2025, ousting entrenched parties that had been in power for multiple terms.
“This is not a win for RSP, this is a win for the country,” 51-year-old party founder and president Lamichhane, who was re-elected as a lawmaker for the third time, told new legislators. “We have to prove that.”
But Lamichhane, who like other lawmakers took the oath on Thursday (March 26), will not be the premier.
He made a hard-nosed political agreement when rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah joined the RSP in December that the former mayor of Kathmandu – better known as Balen – would be the prime-ministerial candidate.
“The way the prime minister candidate was chosen, Balen became the face of the election,” said political analyst Sucheta Pyakuryal.
Shah’s appeal among younger voters and urban constituencies – campaigning on a platform to throw out an old elite, stem corruption and fix the economy – proved valuable at the ballot.
That allowed Lamichhane, a former deputy prime minister and interior minister mired in legal disputes, to step back from the limelight during the campaign.
As the RSP transitions into a governing party, Lamichhane is expected to have a pivotal role and remains its strategist.
Party insiders describe the political veteran as a key architect of the new administration, with significant sway over appointments as many RSP lawmakers were elected to Parliament for the first time.
He has been closely involved in negotiations over cabinet formation and ministerial portfolios.
But it also sets up a potential power challenge.
“We have two leaders... If there is no animosity and there is compatibility, then there is no problem,” Pyakuryal said.
“But this is for the long haul and if... there are disagreements or philosophical differences between the two, then the loyalties of the cabinet members and party members might be at play,” she added.
“And that might make it difficult for them to work.”
‘Your hands’
Lamichhane made his name through combative interviews with public officials and hidden-camera stings on corrupt bureaucrats – populist credentials that channelled anxieties over a teetering economy.
That public support translated into political capital when he founded the RSP in 2022, with the party growing into the fourth largest in Parliament.
He served briefly as deputy prime minister and interior minister, but was barred for failing to regain Nepali citizenship after giving up his US passport.
He has also faced repeated legal troubles, including fraud charges that have seen him in and out of jail since his initial arrest in 2024.
Lamichhane was among the thousands of inmates who left prison during the deadly September 2025 protests when police stations were also attacked.
He maintains that he did not flee but was released, and returned to go back behind bars after a few days. He was released on bail in December.
In January, two charges against him related to organised crime and money laundering were dropped, but hearings against the decision continue in the Supreme Court.
Supporters say the cases were politically motivated.
Striking a pragmatic tone, Lamichhane told lawmakers last week that the next five years “will not be easy” and that “we have to work very hard”.
“The common people have voted for RSP so that the country can win,” he said. “It is now in your hands what kind of future we write.” - AFP
