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By P.R. Pradhan

The nation appears to be prepared for the March 5 election for the House of Representatives. The newly emerged Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) claims that it will form a new government and resolve the country’s ongoing political problems. However, the party—allegedly backed by the American deep state—promotes Christianity, opposes Sanatan Nepali civilization, and aims to serve American agendas in Nepal. Even if the RSP forms a new government, no meaningful change can be expected.

For real political change, the country’s existing laws must be amended. The 2015 Constitution has proven to be non-functional and therefore needs to be scrapped. Under the present circumstances, a new government cannot amend or draft a new constitution. The National Assembly is dominated by three traditional political parties, making it extremely difficult to pass new laws or approve a new constitution. As a result, even if the RSP forms the government, it will be unable to deliver meaningful reforms and will merely enjoy and exploit state facilities.

The most important step in political reform is changing the political system itself and making governance less expensive. Domestic resources should be sufficient to cover government expenditure. At present, the government is surviving on debt simply to operate under the existing constitution.

A government study committee has concluded that the incidents of September 8 and 9, 2025 caused damage worth NPR 82 billion (excluding private property). An additional NPR 30 billion is being spent on elections. For a country that must rely on foreign assistance even to prepare its budget, such massive losses are irreparable and have pushed national development back by many years. The election is almost certain to result in a hung parliament, and even if the RSP forms a government, it will not be able to function effectively. The inevitable outcome is further financial deterioration. The country will witness a new form of syndicate politics, where new faces repeat old practices of commissions, corruption, favoritism, nepotism, and power monopolization.

In reality, when federal structures have become a financial burden, they should be scrapped. The number of local bodies should be reduced, district coordination committees abolished, and either the National Assembly or the proportional representation election system eliminated. The nation should instead focus on economic development by encouraging local industries that substitute imports. First and foremost, the government must reduce its dependence on customs revenue in imports by promoting exports of genuine domestic production. Exports such as vegetable ghee or nuts are not real exports; they are misleading figures used to deceive the public by artificially inflating export data.

Nepal should invest heavily in hydropower and tourism by establishing autonomous institutions for hydropower generation and ensuring professional management of the national flag carrier. An increase in tourist numbers solely due to foreign airlines will not significantly enhance tourism revenue. Likewise, a country cannot rely on remittance income as a long-term economic strategy.

The permanent solution to the current political chaos is not another election. The constitution should be suspended, and an interim constitution introduced to draft a new constitution grounded in a strong economic foundation. More importantly, the politics of exclusion must end. All sectors of society should be given space in the constitution so that everyone feels a sense of ownership.

If we truly love our motherland and wish to make the nation prosperous, we must focus on building an economically vibrant country—rather than enriching a few individuals by burdening honest citizens with unnecessary taxation.