The alleged understanding between Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah and Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) chief Rabi Lamichhane triggers one obvious query: How does the party-led movement market a non-party leader as its prime face for prime minister?
In a parliamentary system such as that of Nepal, it’s quite normal for the party to have its chairman remain in charge of its organization and announce its own leader as its prime minister candidate. The chairman runs the party machinery—candidates, discipline, communication, coalition building, and campaign. It’s then expected that before elections that person becomes their public face: who would be running the country if that party or its coalition holds sufficient seats in Parliament. It seems that this can be an effective arrangement–as long as there isn’t a conflict over who gets to make decisions.
That “if” is the whole story.
Balen’s political ascendency was based on peak visibility. For a time, his name was not confined to Kathmandu; young voters looked up to him more as a symbol of the nation, not as a mayor. Then came the Gen Z movement, the chaos, the drama, the aftermath. The rage was legitimate, but the flames spread quickly, and rumblings have reported its expansion by opportunists. Balen’s political message on social media was part of the political gasoline—a catalyst, of sorts, for both the progress of the movement and its destructive impact. When the time came for leadership, he did not offer a clear vision, a clear dialogue, a clear plan, a clear roadmap. For a private affair, silence can be a cooling influence. For politics, a national politics, silence can be tantamount to ducking.
But there is something different about Rabi’s trajectory. Here, there is an established advantage of new entities: the election symbol, nationwide reach, and hot-started momentum on behalf of Lamichhane. His popularity across RSP and geography as a motivator for people to want something new from the incumbent political parties hasn’t gone away. But his legal troubles are also shadowing Prime Minister potential, because even individuals who want him to be on top know that the court calendar is distinct from politics.
This is why the “Balen as PM candidate” package is appealing as a bridging solution: it keeps the party’s vote bank, puts off the legal setback, and brings all the pro-establishment supporters together under one roof.
The job of prime minister is not permanent. Political parties can always change their leaders mid-term.
Voters still don’t appreciate backroom deals, especially when it looks like power has already been split before the votes are counted. Balen’s refusal to engage publicly, and Lamichhane’s habit of overexposure, could both cost votes.
Unity without an economic and governance roadmap is just arithmetic dressed up as change. And arithmetic alone does not govern a country.
