The ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party today urged all “political appointees” holding posts in public offices to leave, hinting that their refusal may resultantly lead to their removal.

Addressing the inaugural session of the House of Representatives today, RSP Chief Rabi Lamichhane said a positive response to the appeal would make things easier.

The RSP has been planning to remove chiefs of government boards and corporations, different constitutional bodies, diplomatic missions and other public positions, a practice three major political parties – Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist and the Maoist centre – are accused of following in the past two decades.

Nearly 1,200 such positions are said to be occupied by party loyalists. Nepal’s parliament practice reserves first day of the session to allow leaders of each party to speak leaving it to the government to respond other days. Lamichhane, usually an aggressive orator, spoke in a polite manner, promising that the majority of the ruling party will not be misused to harass the opposition ‘like in the past.’

He also apologised to the dalits, and the women in the country for the injustice they have been meted out all through by the state and the society promising the history now onwards would be different.

On the first day of the House, leader of the UML in the House, Ram Bahadur Thapa Badal questioned the manner his party chief K P Oli and former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak were arrested.

With an added sarcasm, he said while the RSP deserved all congratulations for its victory in the recent polls, the Nepal Army, RSP and an NGO named after an American-Nepali Barbara Adams also deserved praises, hinting that the polls were rigged and influenced from outside.