The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has proposed a candidate selection criterion requiring aspiring candidates to declare that their family and marital status is legally valid, undisputed and fully disclosed. The proposed standards would also require declarations of financial and economic integrity, including that candidates are not involved in illegal transactions such as meter-byaj, betting or hundi, and are not involved in domestic violence, sexual abuse or cybercrime.
What the proposed declaration would cover
Under the proposal, candidates would be expected to provide their own declaration on their family and marital circumstances. The wording described by the party calls for those circumstances to be legally valid and undisputed, with no hidden details. The requirement would make clarity and disclosure on marital and family status part of the party’s proposed candidate selection standards.
The proposal focuses on what candidates must declare about their personal status. It does not describe those circumstances as an automatic bar to candidacy in every case; rather, the stated criterion asks candidates to affirm that their status is legally valid and not subject to dispute. It also expressly addresses concealment, requiring that candidates leave no details hidden.
The proposed wording places the responsibility for making the declaration on the candidate. The summary of the standards does not specify how the party would verify statements, how it would handle a disputed declaration, or what consequences would follow if information were later found to have been withheld. Those implementation details are not included in the proposal as described.
Financial and conduct standards
The proposed standards go beyond family and marital disclosure. Candidates would also have to declare financial and economic integrity, including that they are not involved in illegal transactions. The examples named are meter-byaj, betting and hundi, placing those activities within the areas the party says candidates should address in their declarations.
The proposal also names conduct involving domestic violence, sexual abuse and cybercrime. Candidates would be required to declare that they are not involved in these forms of misconduct. Taken together, the criteria set out proposed declarations covering personal status, economic integrity and specified conduct, rather than focusing only on a candidate’s public or political record.
The summary does not provide definitions of the listed activities, explain how allegations would be assessed, or set out a process for reviewing declarations. It also does not identify whether supporting documents would be required. The available details describe the proposed declarations and the subjects they would cover, but do not set out a verification or enforcement framework.
A proposed standard, not a completed process
The RSP has presented the requirements as proposed candidate selection criteria. The proposal therefore sets out standards the party is considering for candidates, rather than confirming that a selection or verification process has already been completed. The details provided do not state when the standards would take effect or whether the party has finalized them.
At the centre of the proposal is a requirement that candidates make clear statements about their marital and family status and their financial and personal conduct. Its wording calls for legal validity, absence of dispute and full disclosure in relation to family and marital circumstances. Separately, it calls for declarations that candidates are not involved in the specified illegal transactions, domestic violence, sexual abuse or cybercrime.
The proposed framework groups these expectations into a candidate’s own declarations. It names the areas candidates would be expected to address, but the information available does not provide further rules on how the party would evaluate a claim, resolve a disagreement or respond to an inaccurate statement. The proposal’s stated scope is limited to requiring legal clarity and disclosure on marital status, alongside declarations on financial and economic integrity and the listed forms of misconduct.
