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Nepal enters the new year with something it has not felt in a long time: a level of public alignment and visible momentum that is difficult to ignore. The elections did more than reshuffle coalitions. They disrupted a long-standing pattern where the same leadership cycles repeated with minimal change, and they created space for a different kind of political profile to emerge.

A younger, more educated group of leaders now occupies positions that were historically dominated by a very different generation. Balendra Shah represents that shift most clearly. A structural engineer by profession and currently pursuing a PhD focused on the conservation of Newa heritage structures, he first built his public credibility as Mayor of Kathmandu, where he enforced urban regulations, removed unauthorized structures, and pushed long-delayed compliance measures with unusual consistency. His rise to the premiership, along with the electoral breakthrough of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, came in the aftermath of widespread public anger against a previous administration widely seen as compromised by corruption.

The current government has moved quickly to signal a break from that past. Sudan Gurung, at 37, has taken an unusually public-facing approach to law enforcement, publicly highlighting arrests in corruption-related cases and directing police agencies toward visible enforcement actions. Public messaging has reinforced a zero-tolerance stance and helped build a level of public support that is rarely sustained in Nepal’s political environment. Unless these practices are institutionalized, they will remain personality-driven and difficult to sustain beyond the current leadership.

Signals of change are not limited to optics. Dipak Kumar Sah, the Minister of Labor for only 15 days, was removed after re-appointing his own spouse to the Health Insurance Board, sending a message that internal accountability would not be ignored. Enforcement has also extended into procurement practices, where large private contractors are increasingly being investigated for manipulating digital bidding processes, including allegations of illegally accessing confidential bid data to undercut competitors at the final stage. The application of rules within the government itself matters as much as action against past actors.

Representation is also shifting. Sita Badi, who comes from a historically marginalized community, now serves as the Minister for Women, Children, and Senior Citizens, reflecting a broader expansion of who participates in national decision-making.

Legislators such as Swarnim Wagle bring experience from global financial institutions, while figures like Sobita Gautam represent a younger legislative voice shaped by legal and policy training. Emerging political statespeople such as Khushbu Oli reflect a cohort that is more outward-looking, educated at elite global institutions, and internationally exposed. Rubi Kumari Thakur, elected as the youngest Deputy Speaker in the country’s history at just 26, signals a shift not only in age but in who gets to occupy positions of institutional authority.

Rabi Lamichhane has positioned himself around public accountability and institutional reform, attempting to carry a media-driven style of confrontation into governance. The transition has been uneven, marked by legal challenges and institutional friction, with limited evidence of reform so far. Compared to earlier leadership such as K. P. Sharma Oli, who did not complete secondary education and never sat for the national SLC (now SEE) examination, the contrast is not subtle. Nepal now has a leadership cohort with significantly greater exposure, training, and technical grounding. Greater capability raises expectations. Greater expectations increase responsibility.

Momentum is visible across multiple domains. Corruption cases are being pursued more aggressively. Ministers are communicating directly with the public. Technology has entered mainstream policy discussions at a rapid pace. The sudden enthusiasm around artificial intelligence reflects ambition, but it also highlights the importance of sequencing priorities carefully.

Sustaining momentum requires structure. The current government needs to commit to their own New Year's resolutions to stick to in order to achieve said structure.

1. Make Law Enforcement Credible, Not Spectacular

Recent arrests and investigations have created the impression that the government is serious about corruption. High-profile detentions and public announcements have signaled a shift in tone and intent. Even temporary enforcement forces a system long accustomed to impunity to respond.

The structural picture, however, has yet to change. Nepal’s score of 34 out of 100 on the Corruption Perceptions Index reflects persistent governance risk. Infrastructure projects regularly exceed budgets by 20–30%, while delays extend timelines well beyond initial projections. Normalization of these outcomes has weakened accountability across sectors.

Enforcement still depends heavily on the political context, which means it can intensify quickly and weaken just as quickly.

Strengthening existing institutions should take priority over creating new ones. The CIAA and the Office of the Auditor General require operational independence, digital tools, and enforceable timelines. Procurement systems should be transparent and digitally tracked from start to finish, reducing discretion at each stage.

Singapore’s Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau operates with strong independence and rapid case resolution, contributing to a Corruption Perceptions Index score above 80. Predictability in enforcement has created deterrence across both public and private sectors. Nepal’s current approach has increased visibility; long-term credibility will depend on achieving similar consistency.

Anti-corruption must become structural if current gains are to last.

2. Concentrate Investment Where Nepal Already Wins

Nepal has often tried to promote multiple sectors at once in its effort to attract foreign investment. Tourism, IT, manufacturing, agriculture, and hydropower are all positioned as priorities. A broad approach has spread effort thin and limited scale.

Hydropower and tourism already provide a strong foundation. Nepal’s feasible hydropower potential exceeds 40 gigawatts, while installed capacity has crossed a little over 3 gigawatts. Export agreements with India aim to supply up to 10 gigawatts over the next decade. Even partial delivery would reshape Nepal’s economic structure, although delays in transmission infrastructure and cross-border coordination remain real constraints.

Tourism continues to generate immediate and widespread impact. International arrivals exceeded 1.1 million, supporting employment across hospitality, transport, and local services. When indirect effects are included, tourism contributes approximately 7–8% of GDP.

Integration between these sectors offers a practical path forward. Hydropower development improves infrastructure in remote areas, many of which are also key tourism destinations. Clean energy strengthens Nepal’s global positioning as a sustainable destination.

Norway generates over 90% of its electricity from hydropower and has used that advantage to build a low-carbon economy while developing a high-value tourism sector centered on natural landscapes. Strong infrastructure and environmental credibility reinforce both sectors simultaneously. Nepal has comparable natural advantages; alignment between sectors remains the missing link.

Focused execution in a few sectors will deliver more than diluted effort across many.

3. Turn Geographic Advantage into Global Influence

Nepal’s geography places it at the center of one of the most critical environmental systems in the world. The Hindu Kush Himalaya region contains around 54,000 glaciers and supports river systems that sustain nearly two billion people.

Glacier loss is accelerating, with projections indicating that up to one-third of ice volume could disappear by the end of the century. Implications extend across water security, agriculture, and disaster risk.

Nepal has consistently highlighted this reality in international forums. Greater effort is required to convert that visibility into leadership.

An International Glacier Protection Center based in Kathmandu would position Nepal as a coordinator in global glacier research, monitoring, and policy alignment. Partnerships with actors such as the European Union would provide technical expertise and access to climate financing.

Switzerland has built global credibility through institutions such as ETH Zurich and the World Glacier Monitoring Service, which lead in glacier research and climate data. Sustained investment has turned a small country into a global authority in alpine science. Nepal holds greater strategic relevance; institutional capacity will determine whether that relevance translates into influence.

Geography provides Nepal with influence. Strategic use of that advantage will determine its impact.

4. Fix Core Digital Systems Before Scaling AI

The growing focus on artificial intelligence reflects ambition and awareness of global trends. Foundational systems, however, remain incomplete.

Land records remain inconsistent across districts. Court backlogs delay resolution of cases for years. Government databases do not communicate effectively across ministries.

Integration should be the immediate priority. A unified digital identity system, interoperable databases, and digitized public services would reduce inefficiencies that affect citizens daily.

Estonia’s X-Road platform allows secure data exchange across agencies and supports more than 99% of public services online. Early focus on interoperability created long-term efficiency. Nepal’s challenge is not a lack of ideas, but consistent implementation of systems already proven to work.

Digital transformation requires sequencing. Foundations must come first.

5. Protect the Mandate from Daily Administrative Drift

Nepal’s central challenge remains execution. Policy ambition has often exceeded implementation capacity, creating gaps between intent and outcome.

GDP growth of approximately 3.4% in 2025 reflects moderate expansion, but remains significantly below Nepal’s long-term average of around 6%. Political instability during the same period reduced economic activity, with losses estimated at around 1.3% of GDP.

Delays in road construction, extended hydropower timelines, and stalled investments reflect how administrative drift affects outcomes.

Fiscal expectations also need grounding. Targets of around 8% growth have been discussed within government circles, while international institutions such as the World Bank have indicated that such projections may be overly optimistic given current constraints in infrastructure, investment absorption, and governance capacity, as well as the current global energy crisis.

A central delivery unit within the Prime Minister’s Office could track major projects, publish progress updates, and intervene in stalled initiatives. Regular monitoring would reduce delays that currently go unaddressed.

Rwanda’s Imihigo performance contracts require government officials to meet measurable targets, with progress tracked publicly and reviewed annually. Strong monitoring has supported sustained GDP growth rates above 7% over long periods. Nepal does not lack ambition; execution discipline remains the missing component.

A mandate is sustained through delivery, not announcements.

Conclusion

Nepal enters the new year with real momentum and an unusually high level of public support for its current leadership. That level of alignment is rare in Nepal’s democratic history and raises expectations accordingly.

The test is straightforward. The government must begin to behave differently in the hard routines of governing, not just in moments of visibility.

Public patience will not last indefinitely. A window of roughly two years exists to demonstrate that execution can match ambition.

If these five New Year’s resolutions become standard practice across government, momentum will stop being a moment and start becoming the system.