Prime Minister Balendra Shah recently formed a 54-proposal task force to prepare a constitution amendment discussion paper. Led by his political advisor, Asim Shah, the team proposed major reforms, including a directly elected executive president and appointing experts as ministers. However, ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is now facing internal pressure to drop its long-standing agenda of a directly elected executive.
Despite securing a near two-thirds majority in the recent March 5 elections on a manifesto advocating for an executive head, senior RSP leaders are backtracking. They cite the aftermath of the Gen Z movement and shifting political dynamics as reasons for their growing skepticism. Leaders fear that concentrating absolute authority in a single individual could pave the way for instability or authoritarianism.
Under Nepal's current constitution, the Prime Minister is elected by the parliament. Internal discussions within RSP now favor retaining this parliamentary system while introducing tweaks, such as barring lawmakers from becoming ministers, making the National Assembly non-partisan, and abolishing the post of Vice President. The issue is expected to be formally debated during the party's upcoming first general convention in Chitwan from June 21 to 23.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Balen Shah's working style has sent shockwaves through major political parties like Nepali Congress and CPN-UML. Since taking office, Shah has avoided addressing parliament, limited his public interactions, and made unilateral decisions from his office. This "executive-style" governance has sparked fears that he is treading a dictatorial path, prompting Nepali Congress to boycott his constitution amendment task force.
Interestingly, sources close to the Prime Minister suggest that even Shah is changing his stance after experiencing the complexities of governance. An RSP lawmaker who recently met him noted that the Prime Minister no longer seems fully convinced about the idea of a directly elected executive.
"Prime Minister Balen himself is now convinced that concentrating all power in one individual is difficult for Nepal," a senior RSP leader said. "When I asked him about this, I did not find him reassured about a directly elected executive chief. I found that he has reached a conclusion that unlimited power should not be given to a single person."
Instead, Shah reportedly wants to focus entirely on delivering results during his current five-year term before heading back to the voters. Echoing this sentiment, RSP MP Raju Nath Pandey also confirmed that voices against the executive system are growing louder within the party. "I don’t think the directly elected executive will move forward," Pandey said, adding that the party needs to review its election manifesto as implementing such a system is practically difficult in Nepal.
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