Nepal UK
Prime Minister Balendra Shah marked Vijaya Dashami, the main day of Bada Dashain, on Wednesday 21 October with a message urging citizens to use the festival to confront corruption, misgovernance, bureaucratic delay, inequality and political distortions. In a Facebook post dated 21 October, he described the festival as a celebration of truth over falsehood and said the aim should be an environment in which "every citizen feels that the government is there to serve them", the wording used in The Kathmandu Post's report of the message, which paraphrases rather than quotes him verbatim.
Mr Shah also asked people to set aside arrogance, greed, jealousy, violence and discrimination, saying lasting change requires altering behaviour as well as thinking. He extended greetings to Nepalese at home and abroad and encouraged celebration within one's means.
The message is political as much as ceremonial. It comes days after the government's cabinet declared flood- and landslide-hit areas disaster crisis zones and approved relief for affected families (cabinet decisions reported on 16 October), and while Parliament awaits its winter session to resolve a bill restoring provisions of 85 Acts after a controversial removal-of-officials ordinance lapsed. For Nepalese readers in the UK, the message signals the governance themes the prime minister wants to be judged on, including the pace of flood reconstruction.
What is confirmed: the date and content of the post, as carried by two outlets. What is not: any new policy, since the message announces no specific measure.
