Is this government governing, or just putting on a show?

The current government owes its existence to the Gen Z movement, which grew out of public despair. Before it, the country lived in perpetual ‘political spectacle’: governments rose and fell routinely, accusation and defence consumed political energy, and slogans of good governance stayed slogans. Unemployment, rising prices and insecurity fed discontent until it exploded. The government born of that upheaval now seems absorbed in dispensing its own spectacle.

That may distract citizens for a while, but it offers no lasting remedy and risks deepening despair among the young. Before the next such eruption, the government must strengthen the institutions that solve citizens’ specific problems. Nepali youth are tormented by unemployment. Jobs need investment; investment needs encouraged investors and a favourable legal and political climate; and the state must raise capital expenditure on projects that build capital, create jobs and yield quick returns.

With a vast number of young people entering the labour market every year, this should come first. Yet seven months in, it has not.