4 min readSep 25, 2026 04:50 PM IST First published on: Sep 25, 2026 at 04:50 PM ISTNepal has witnessed a unique political practice for over eight decades. It replaces the constitution amid mass protests and agitations against the government of the day, every 10-15 years. It’s the constitution that gets blamed for the regime’s failure, and not the people who ran it. The leaders of the failed regimes continue to occupy key positions in the country’s politics, succeeding regimes. The practice of reviewing and reforming themselves, or taking responsibility for a government’s failures by its leaders, is absent from the country’s political culture.Last September, the youth protest against the corruption in high places and the ban on social media that the K P Oli Government had imposed led to the premature dissolution of parliament and fresh general elections five months later, with a caretaker government under the leadership of a non-parliamentarian and a retired Chief Justice. This was something the constitution had expressly forbidden.AdvertisementNow, about six months after Balendra Shah, then a 35-year-old rapper turned Kathmandu mayor, took over as Prime Minister, a new narrative is being created. The claim is that a two-thirds majority in parliament is not enough to ensure political stability and the survival of the government.In the last few weeks, Shah has been seen succumbing to the criticism from his own party and the opposition. Under pressure, he attended parliament a couple of times, most recently on September 2, in the aftermath of massive flash floods that have left over 1,400 dead, with many more missing and uprooted, and the damage caused running into billions.Shah made his appearance at the UNGA on Friday, spoke of the global community not heeding the warnings from the nation and repeated that affluent countries should share the burden of Nepal’s sorrow and the cost of rebuilding. The well-being of around 630 children and infants left orphaned is visibly at the focus of many international charity groups, but it is yet to become the priority for the government at home.AdvertisementAlso Read | In Trump’s annihilation threat, a tiny spaceShah, however, has been avoiding parliament and taking on accountability on behalf of the government. RSP Chief Rabi Lamichhane is acting as a “proxy PM”, meeting President Ram Chandra Poudel and convening a joint meeting with parties in parliament, a responsibility Shah seems to be deliberately avoiding.Lamichhane has expressed dissatisfaction over the relief work, while Shah’s advisers are being accused of appropriating executive roles “illegally”. Shah’s silence has only increased their vulnerability.Rather than dealing with the political crisis, the government is turning aggressive towards dissent and criticism. Bharat Dahal, a prolific social media commentator, alleged that Nepal is inching too close to the US. He was arrested on Sunday by the Cyber Bureau of the Nepal Police.The crackdown is not confined to social media. Tanuja Pande, a lawyer at the forefront of the Gen Z protest last year, warns: “Let this change and sacrifice not go to waste.” On the first anniversary of the protest, there was much less hope and appreciation of the leadership.you may likeBaledra Shah’s visible decline in popularity, his lack of visibility in the current catastrophe and the deaths of thousands, the shortage of cooking gas, and his opponents taking the government head-on are issues he may ignore only at his peril.If Nepal’s political mathematics follows the old pattern, the constitution of 2015, the seventh in 80 years, may not last long. And the regime in charge may also find itself a part of that pattern.The writer is the Kathmandu-based contributing editor for The Indian Express