Kathmandu, Feb. 6 -- The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which emerged as the country's fourth-largest political force in the 2022 elections by criticising the flawed political culture of older parties, is itself being criticised for its recent un-political activities.

From the closed list it submitted to the Election Commission under the proportional representation (PR) system to the anomalies seen in its election campaign, the party's missteps mirror those of the established parties it once challenged.

In violation of election rules, the party replaced the highest number-38-of candidates among all the parties in its closed PR list. In the closed list, a party can include only new candidates in place of those who opt out. However, even...