NEPALI POLITICS

The Balen led government appears to be a proactive government aggressively performing its constructive roles in the areas of agriculture, industry, technology, health, education, justice and infrastructure for the solution of problems which were the nation and the people facing for the last three decades. It marks a paradigm shift from the earlier sluggish government performance to boosting public confidence in state institutions, through administrative reforms and management discipline, efficiency and performance. The collapse of the Oli led government was rapid. The immediate trigger for the protests in the streets was the then government’s decision to ban 26 social-media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and YouTube, for failing to meet a deadline to register with the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. The move was justified as a means of enforcing a digital-services tax . However, it was widely seen as a means of shutting down free sp...

The government has formally decided to abolish all the 12 trade unions of civil and health services which were in place for the last 35 years under the patronage of different political parties, following the issuance of the ordinance “Some Nepal Acts Amendment Ordinance 2083” by the President. The provision was removed after the ordinance, recommended by the government and prepared by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs in coordination with the Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration , came into effect. With this decision, not any form of trade union will now exist within the civil service.    Prime Minister Balendra (Balen) Shah has made it clear that the abolition of trade unions and party flags was aimed at making the bureaucracy and academia clean, free, and professional. He has further said that prohibiting party flags in schools and bureaucracy will not seize rights of students and employees, but strengthens professional freedoms. Par...

One month into office, PM Balendra (Balen) Shah , finds himself moving forward with a mix of high expectations, early reforms, and mounting controversies. Backed by a near two-thirds majority in the Parliament, he assumed office on March 27 following the March 5 elections that rode on the momentum of a Gen Z-driven political wave in the nation . In his very first cabinet meeting, he moved swiftly to endorse an ambitious 100-point governance reform agenda for the first three months in his office. Among others, the plan promised structural changes, including downsizing federal ministries, merging financially burdensome boards and committees, and depoliticising civil servants and teachers. It also envisioned citizen-centric service delivery--passports, licences, and citizenship documents delivered through the postal system.   In a departure from past practices, PM Shah held a collective meeting with ambassadors instead of one-on-one bilateral meetings. The move has been interpre...