By Rabi Raj Thapa
On the fateful day of September 9, 2025, Nepal went through an unprecedented mass uprising that swept away all political leaders who were too proud and arrogant to respect Nepal’s thousands of years of Hindu-Buddhist faith, along with its ancient indigenous and local customs. For decades, Nepali people had become so frustrated that they began to yearn for rulers like Junga Bahadur Kunwar and Chandra Shumsher J.B. Rana.
How do people rate today’s Nepali Congress and Communist “rajas” compared with those Rana rulers, late King Mahendra B.B. Shah, late King Birendra B.B. Shah, and King Gyanendra B.B. Shah? And just compare that to the premierships of the federal-era “kings,” beginning with G.P. Koirala, K.P. Oli, Sher Bahadur Deuba, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhal Nath Khanal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and Baburam Bhattarai, who had joined hands as signatories to the 12-point understanding reached between the Seven Political Parties and the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist), commonly called the Delhi Agreement of November 22, 2005. Now, Gen Z has thrown them all out of the window of the Nepali political arena. Balen Shah has now come with an almost two-thirds majority government and has begun to show his colors, which have struck at their nerve centers.
Today, as Prime Minister Balen Shah is carrying out what Jean-Jacques Rousseau described as removing the “false fabrics” of society, this is creating tremors among those who once considered themselves untouchable, along with their cartels and silent partners.
What is it that all Nepalis expect from the Balen Shah government? Today, Nepali people want to see strong structural reforms of the state and improved government performance as early as possible. These can be achieved only if the Balen government improves, changes, or revitalizes all the key impediments that have conspired to corrupt and hinder the creation of effective state institutions, while also enhancing state capacity and good governance.
It is normal for people to expect any government to become a good service provider for different needs. In this regard, the Prime Minister’s strong initiative to clear squatter settlements in the Kathmandu Valley has dragged his image and credibility into controversy and intense debate.
The promulgation of ordinances has done its job but has created displeasure among those who benefited from political cartels, trade syndicates, and their visible and invisible tentacles.
The most volatile and debatable issue has been the recommendation of Dr. Manoj Kumar as the Chief Justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court, overtaking the first and senior-most Acting Chief Justice, Sapana Malla. In fact, the selection of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court should be more of a technical and procedural matter rather than a subject of media debate or uproar over alleged foul play. However, it has now become like a bullfight spectacle. Such practices cannot benefit anybody but instead undermine the credibility of the entire judicial system and the people involved in Nepal’s criminal justice system.
Besides this, the Balen government seems to lag behind in making balanced efforts to provide people with a sense of safety and security, maintain balanced foreign relations, and uphold the rule of law through proper procedures and appropriate instruments. The government also needs to focus on the protection of human life and property, infrastructure development, and the provision of adequate social services such as health and education.
Any country in the world can be categorized as a strong nation, weak nation, failing nation, or failed nation, ultimately leading to the collapse of the government as a whole. If you look at the two fateful days of September 8 and 9, they can be defined as a stateless situation in which there was effectively no government, except for the Nepal Army as the only functional institution of the state.
Nepal needs to aim for positive sovereignty—that is, the ability to protect and control its national territory. Threats to positive sovereignty can arise from both domestic instability, proxy wars, and external armed intervention. Therefore, sovereignty is achieved only when a state can resist external pressure and intervention, while formulating, implementing, and executing its own state policies and strategies.
Now the time has come for the Balen government to refresh itself and make a fresh start, without allowing accumulated dust to settle in its policy decision-making and implementation processes.
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