New Political Experiment

On March 30, I had the opportunity to meet a valued guest from Nepal. He was Akhanda Bhandari, a recently appointed head of Gorkhapatra Corporation, the country’s largest state-owned media group. He was visiting Korea to attend the World Journalists Conference at the invitation of the Korea Journalists Association and with the recommendation of the Korean Embassy in Nepal.

He was also closely connected with several Nepali figures I know well, including journalists Bishnu Nisthuri and Bishnu Gautam, and social activist Anuradha Koirala. Having served as editor-in-chief of Nepal’s leading daily Annapurna Post, he is also an intellectual who sought to heal the wounds of Nepali society through his novel Malaya Express.

We met at Om Restaurant, run by K. P. Sitaula, one of the early Nepali settlers in Korea. Over a glass of three-year-old ginseng liquor I had prepared, we spoke candidly about bilateral exchanges and the current state of the media in our two countries.

Our conversation naturally turned to Nepal’s transformation last September and the emergence of a young political leader. Bhandari expressed strong expectations of Prime Minister Balendra Shah, a man in his mid-30s. He noted that the experiment of a former rapper and Kathmandu mayor was already beginning to materialise in meaningful ways.

Through multiple visits to Nepal, ongoing exchanges with local figures, and both online and offline conversations, I have closely followed the country’s evolving trajectory. From this accumulated experience, I have come to believe that what is happening in Nepal today is not merely a political event.

The current wave of change, beginning in Kathmandu, is far from ordinary. In a place long perceived as slow to transform, a figure has emerged who challenges the conventional grammar of politics. That figure is new Prime Minister Shah, a former rapper and structural engineer turned politician.

His rise is not just a political occurrence. It is a reflection of the deep fatigue and distrust toward established politics, as well as a sign of the growing desire for new leadership. Without party backing or political lineage, he has emerged through the choice of citizens, becoming a symbol that unsettles the existing political order.

The essence of his leadership is clear: execution over rhetoric, results over formality. Rather than relying on grand ideologies or slogans, he focuses on restoring urban order, digitising administration, and solving problems through data-driven approaches. He demonstrates that politics is not about what is said, but about what is accomplished.

At this point, we cannot help but reflect on our own reality. Amid extreme polarisation and recurring political strife, we must ask how concretely politics is improving citizens’ lives. Has politics remained trapped in the realm of words and slogans? Are we witnessing a repeated cycle of evading responsibility while amplifying conflict ?

What Balendra Shah represents is not a grand revolution, but a return to the essence of politics. It is a pragmatic approach centered on problem-solving, direct communication with citizens, and the relinquishing of authority. His ability to transform the frustration and anger of the younger generation into an energy for change is particularly significant.

Of course, his path ahead will not be easy. Conflicts with entrenched power structures, institutional limitations, and political resistance are inevitable. Yet what matters is not his position, but his direction. He has already delivered a powerful message: politics is not the exclusive domain of a particular class, but a space that anyone capable of taking responsibility can participate in and shape.

Whether this transformation will remain a local experiment or expand across nations and throughout Asia remains uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the movement beginning in Kathmandu is raising new questions for Asian politics.

Politics is, ultimately, about changing people’s lives. And its starting point may not lie in grand ideologies, but in the voices from the ground and the small, practical actions reflected in my conversation with Bhandari.

(The author is the publisher of The AsiaN and Founding President of the Asia Journalist Association.)