Nepal’s Proposed Governance Reforms: Emerging Trends and Impacts on Civic Space

Nepal is currently undergoing a major political and governance transition following the formation of a new government under Prime Minister Balendra Shah, representing the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).1 With 182 seats in the House of Representatives, just two short of a two-thirds majority, the government holds a strong political mandate. This commanding position has created a rare window for ambitious structural reforms, but it also raises critical concerns about democratic balance, institutional oversight, and civic space. The newly formed government has introduced a series of reforms and policy decisions, including a 100-point governance reform roadmap.2 The roadmap, along with subsequent decisions, signals a bold shift toward efficiency-driven governance, prioritizing digital transformation, administrative restructuring, anticorruption measures, and accelerated service delivery. These initiatives respond to long-standing governance challenges in Nepal, including bureaucratic inefficiency, duplication of functions, and systemic corruption. However, the speed, scale, and centralized nature of these reforms have also generated significant debate over their implications for constitutional freedoms, institutional checks and balances, and democratic safeguards.

Click here to read  the development, incidents, impacts in this regard: https://digitalrightsnepal.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Governance-Reform-and-Shrinking-Civic-Space_Sit-Rep_19-April_DRN_.pdf