Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s first month in office has been marked by speed, with concerns rising over a democratic stress test.

Mr. Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won a whopping 182 seats — just two shy of a two-thirds majority — in the March elections, triggered by last September’s Gen Z protests. Analysts and observers say the Shah government is trying to rule by ordinances, bypassing legislative debate, even as it moved to evict landless squatters, with security forces razing houses and other structures along the riverbanks in the Kathmandu Valley.

Mr. Shah, 35, was sworn in as Prime Minister on March 27, 2026, days after the RSP’s unprecedented victory. Despite a comfortable majority in Parliament, the government pushed through ordinance after ordinance instead of immediately convening a parliamentary session.

Nepal’s Constitution requires the government to recommend ordinances to the President, who, as the constitutional head of state, must issue them.

The ordinance push coincided with mounting pushback over the government’s clearance of “illegal” settlements, leaving many without homes and children without schools, as some school buildings were also demolished.

Demolition drive

On April 23, 2026, Mr. Shah instructed security agencies to remove “illegal” settlements along Kathmandu’s riverbanks. Criticism came as swiftly as the action.

Analysts say the concern is more about the process than the intent.

“The action bordered on cruelty. The squatters’ issue, which has been pending for years, needed to be addressed, but it could have been handled in a more managed manner,” said Dambar Khatiwada, political commentator and writer. “Such hasty moves were bound to face reproach.”

Responses, however, were mixed, rooted in both humanitarian concerns and political prejudice.

“Political parties that were routed in the last elections harbour some dislike for the RSP, so Mr. Shah’s moves met with fierce Opposition,” said Mr. Khatiwada. “From a general perspective, voices raised against what was akin to a demolition drive were justified.”

Over 3,000 familes now homeless

Within days, more than 3,000 families, rendered homeless, had registered for shelter at temporary holding centres.

The RSP won on an anti-incumbency platform, campaigning against Nepal’s three main parties — the Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and CPN (Maoist Centre) — accusing them of perpetuating corruption and patronage politics. While the merit of these allegations may be debatable, analysts note that previous governments failed to address the squatter issue. Government lands, especially along riverbanks, were increasingly encroached upon — not just by the landless, but also by those connected to traditional parties.

While a similar drive to clear illegal settlements in 2013 did not spark street protests, civil society members criticised this government’s actions as inhumane. As many as 28 prominent civil society members said in a statement on May 4, 2026 they “are alarmed that the government is repeatedly moving toward violations of the Constitution and restrictions on civil liberties.”

In response to these concerns, Mr. Shah, who has not made a public appearance since taking office, turned to his preferred communication channel — social media.

“The government’s attention has been drawn to various public comments and interpretations regarding the management processes it has initiated, in accordance with the law, in areas along the rivers of the Kathmandu Valley and government-owned land where unauthorised encroachments have been identified,” he wrote on social media platform X on May 4, 2026. “The information received indicates attempts to create fear and raise doubts among landless and informally settled citizens, suggesting that they might be evicted due to these processes,” he said.

He added that “certain provisions of the Land Act 2021, which had been obstacles to the implementation of long-term solutions, have been repealed through an ordinance, considering the current situation.”

Executive moves

The ordinance mentioned by Mr. Shah is one of eight that the government recommended in the past few days. While ordinances are constitutionally permitted, the Opposition focused on two points: the RSP’s comfortable majority, and the government’s decision to call and then immediately withdraw a parliamentary session before sending ordinances to the President.

Some ordinances were issued swiftly by President Ramchandra Paudel, while one related to the Constitutional Council was initially held and sent back for reconsideration. The government insisted, and the President ultimately issued the ordinance, paving the way for appointments in 18 constitutional bodies.

Civil society members said that attempts to govern through ordinances, bypassing Parliament, indicate that the government is moving toward authoritarianism.

“Postponing a parliamentary session it had called to bring in ordinances constitutes a disregard for constitutionalism and the parliamentary system,” they said.

“By choosing the path of ordinances instead of presenting Bills in Parliament and making laws through sufficient debate and discussion, the party that won nearly a two-thirds majority undermines both the mandate it received and the practice of parliamentary procedure,” the added.

The Constitutional Council ordinance nearly triggered a full-blown tussle between the executive and the President, a ceremonial institution envisioned by Nepal’s Constitution. Even Mr. Poudel faced criticism for sending it back, as the Constitution does not explicitly allow the high office to do so. The conflict was averted once the ordinance was issued, and the Shah government then on Tuesday (May 5, 2026) called a parliamentary session for May 11, 2026.

Analysts note that the RSP came to power promising change, and it is under pressure to deliver.

“This is too early to pass strong judgment on this government. Some of its moves may look hasty, but overall the intent seems to be right,” said Lokraj Baral, a professor of political science at Tribhuvan University. “As far as criticism over dismantling structures along the riversides is concerned, it goes without saying that it could have been done differently.”

Published – May 08, 2026 01:15 am IST

View of the Singha Durbar office complex that houses the Prime Minister’s office and other ministries burnt, following Monday’s deadly anti-corruption protests triggered by a social media ban, which was later lifted, in Kathmandu, Nepal, September 11, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Security personnel and civilians stand near damaged structures in the aftermath of anti-government protests, near the India-Nepal border, in Banke district, Nepal, Wednesday, on September 10, 2025.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Sixteen years ago, mass protests in Nepal forced then King Gyanendra Shah to give up the throne and clear the way for a republic. Now, a new wave of protest is trying to bring him back.

The capital of the Himalayan country is again teeming with demonstrators, this time demanding that Mr. Shah be reinstated as king and Hinduism brought back as a state religion. Royalist groups accuse the country’s major political parties of corruption and failed governance and say people are frustrated with politicians.

“Come back king, save the country. Long live our beloved king. We want a monarchy,” people raised slogans at a rally last month in Kathmandu.

Growing frustration with the present system has led to calls for radical change. Pro-monarchy rallies have been growing larger, and an increasing number of homes and businesses are displaying portraits of the former king and his ancestors.

Mr. Gyanendra was a constitutional head of state without executive or political powers until 2005, when he seized absolute power. He disbanded the government and Parliament, jailed politicians and journalists and cut off communications, declaring a state of emergency and using the Army to rule the country.

Protests that drew hundreds of thousands of people forced him to give up power to the Parliament in 2006, and two years later Parliament voted to abolish the monarchy and Mr. Gyanendra left the Royal Palace to live the life of a commoner.

But many Nepalis have grown frustrated with the republic, saying it has failed to bring about political stability and blaming it for a struggling economy and widespread corruption. Nepal has had 13 governments since the monarchy was abolished in 2008.

Many Nepalis believe elected politicians are more interested in power and patronage than addressing their problems, said Dhruba Hari Adhikary, an independent analyst based in Kathmandu. “That’s why some people started to think that, well, it was far better under the monarchy,” he said.

In November, tens of thousands rallied in support of the king in Kathmandu, where riot police officers used batons and tear gas to halt them from marching to the centre of the capital. Kings were long considered reincarnations of the god Vishnu in the majority-Hindu nation.

“The king is the umbrella that is really needed to block and protect (the country) from all the pressure and influence that is being put on Nepal by countries like India, China or America,” said Rudra Raj Pandey, who was among the protesters at last month’s rally.

“Our country will retain its values and identity only if it is turned back to a monarchy and the king is reinstated to the throne,” he said. But the movement is too small to prevail any time soon, Mr. Adhikary said.

With polls and surveys rarely conducted in Nepal, it’s not clear how many people support the monarchy. Mr. Gyanendra was an unpopular king, but the monarchy remained broadly popular before he seized absolute power.

The country’s major political parties have rejected the possibility of the king returning to power.

“Nepal is a republic and the monarchy will never be reinstated,” said Narayan Prakash Saud of Nepali Congress, which led the revolt against the kind in 2006 and is currently the largest party in Parliament. “The only way it would be possible would be through changing the constitution, but there is no possibility of that happening at all.”

The most powerful group supporting restoration of the monarchy is the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, or national democratic party, which was founded in the 1990s by allies of the monarchy. It has 14 seats in Parliament — around 5% — but wields outsize influence as a representative of the protest movement. Party leaders met with the Prime Minister in February and presented their demands.

“I think it is very possible and the environment throughout the country has never been so congenial for this agenda,” said Rabindra Mishra, deputy chairman of the party. “If we can’t restore the institution of the monarchy in this country, there is no future for the youth in this country and the existence of this country itself could be at risk,” he said.

Mr. Gyanendra himself hasn’t commented on the movement. He has stayed out of open involvement in politics since his abdication, and only rarely makes public appearances. Other groups supporting the king have sprung up.

“We need a monarchy. Without a king, we have no identity as Nepalese and all of us might as well just declare ourselves as refugees,” said Pasupathi Khadga, who leads a youth organisation that supports the reinstatement of the monarchy.

Nepal’s monarchy did not allow political parties to form until 1990, when a pro-democracy movement brought in elections and reduced the monarchy to a ceremonial role. Mr. Gyanendra became king after his elder brother, then King Birendra, and his family were killed in a massacre at the royal palace in 2001.