4 min readOct 13, 2026 07:52 PM IST First published on: Oct 13, 2026 at 07:52 PM ISTTwenty years ago, Nepal’s leaders, buoyed by their success after deposing King Gyanendra, declared that democracy would be a permanent feature in the country’s governance. The current regime is now defining democracy rather uniquely. In six months, Prime Minister Balendra Shah showed up in parliament just four times, spoke briefly twice, and left the House once when the President was still at the joint session. He has not called on the President even once.Shah is, in fact, doing things only slightly differently from the governments led by the three major parties — the Maoists, Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (UML) — in the past 20 years. They too used the legislature as a rubber stamp and scuttled Members’ right to move amendments, even when the constitution-making process was on.AdvertisementOn September 27, the police arrested former chief justice Cholendra Shumsher Rana without a warrant of arrest. He was let off 12 hours after obtaining a letter that it was on Rana’s request, for his own protection, that he was kept in the police station. But less than a week later, Rana’s relatives and his close contacts are being searched and investigated for wide-ranging charges, including an attempt to influence sub judice cases and subvert the Shah government in collaboration with some leaders both in the ruling party and in the opposition.Home Minister Sudhan Gurung is personally supervising surveillance and the investigation. Why the government chose not to inform parliament about the conspiracy remains a mystery. But in a highly polarised political climate, Shah remains a “hero” and Rana the opposite.Gurung’s warning that the misuse of information accessed through people holding certain official positions will not be condoned offers a clue about the course the case may take. While nothing much has been revealed yet, the investigation is likely to take cognisance of the growing dissent within the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party and criticism of the government by MPs who are supporters of party leader Rabi Lamichhane. In addition, UML chief and former prime minister K P Sharma Oli is now demanding the revival of the parliament that was dissolved on September 12 last year after he was forced to quit as PM in the face of the “Gen Z” anti-corruption protest.AdvertisementThe perceived conspiracy seems to have multiple dimensions, and, going by the actions so far, the government is trying to link them together. Naturally, Lamichhane would be as much of a suspect as Oli and Maoist leader Prachanda.you may likeAlso Read | After the flood: Why Nepal’s young PM Balendra Shah is in hot waterWay back in 2006, when the political parties of the day ousted the king, they also moved towards controlling the judiciary. The new government asked Supreme Court judges to take a fresh oath, which was seen as a pledge of loyalty to the new regime. A proposal put forward by the Maoists that the judiciary be answerable to parliament did not find support from other parties. But in 2013, Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi took over as the PM, with nominees from the four major parties in the cabinet — an experiment that has not only ruined the reputation and independence of the judiciary, but also injected political ambition among judges. Sushila Karki, a retired CJ, took over as PM last year despite the constitution clearly disqualifying judges from any constitutional or political position even after retirement.These experiments at the cost of the principle of separation of powers have brought judges and politicians together. The landslide victory in favour of a single party last year was a rare electoral outcome in Nepal. But perhaps it is no guarantee of political stability.The writer is the Kathmandu-based contributing editor for The Indian Express