KATHMANDU: Former Chief Secretary and ex-Ambassador to China, Leelamani Poudel, has said that the belief that a directly elected executive system can ensure political stability in Nepal is misleading.
Speaking at a seminar titled “Nepal’s Political System and Foreign Policy after the Gen-Z Movement” organized by the International Relations Concern Group Nepal, Poudel argued that such a system could instead create serious problems in a country like Nepal.
“There are many examples where directly elected leaders have turned erratic and caused accidents in governance,” he said, adding, “What happens if an eccentric person comes to power, and the parliament has a majority from another party? Even in such a system, large-scale corruption and conflicts of interest in policymaking can occur.”
Poudel noted that even with legal provisions to limit the powers of a directly elected executive, practical complications would persist.
On foreign policy, he stressed the need for fundamental changes, stating, “Our foreign policy has yet to undergo basic reform. Our ancestors secured this country’s borders by defeating the British Empire. We cannot afford to falter in foreign policy.”
He further emphasized the importance of enhancing the skills and capacities of the Nepali people, adding that structural and policy-level reforms are necessary to institutionalize the agendas raised by the Gen-Z movement in the long term.
Comment