Nepal’s combative Deputy Prime Minister Fired for Citizenship

The Rashtriya Swatantra Party’s leader was also demoted from the cabinet and lost his House seat.

Rabi Lamichhane, a combative deputy prime minister, was removed from office by Nepal’s top court on Friday for failing to obtain citizenship there again after renunciating his US passport.

The 48-year-old Lamichhane is well-known for his work as a television host. He gained notoriety as an anti-corruption zealot by conducting confrontational interviews with public figures.

In the elections held in November, he came out on top, giving his new party membership in the ruling coalition and himself the position of deputy prime minister.

But Bimal Poudel, a spokesman for the Supreme Court, told AFP that Lamichhane couldn’t keep his job because he didn’t “follow the due process” when he gave up his US citizenship in 2018.

His election to the position of a member of the House of Representatives was declared invalid by the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench, according to Poudel.

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The republic forbids dual citizenship and only permits Nepali citizens to run for office and hold elected positions.

According to court records, Lamichhane did not submit a new citizenship application, as required by law.

Nepal’s economy, which depends on remittances and tourism, is on the verge of collapse. Lamichhane was elected because many people were unhappy with the country’s old, corrupt political elite.

The editor of the neighborhood daily Nagarik, Guna Raj Luitel, told AFP that “this problem is a setback to that wave of change.”

“The people had high hopes for the new faces, but now they will doubt their credibility.”