Inside the strange, disciplined, unreachable world of Nepal’s Prime Minister

Prime Minister Balendra Shah of Nepal has cultivated an image of disciplined unpredictability since taking office, marked by a consistent adherence to his own set of rules, particularly concerning public visibility. His signature look includes black coats, sunglasses, and white sneakers, a uniform he wore when presenting his government's policy roadmap to President Ramchandra Paudel.

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He handed President Ramchandra Paudel a folder containing his government’s first policies and programmes, the roadmap by which his administration would be judged. Then, forty-five minutes into the President’s address to a joint session of federal parliament, the Prime Minister got up and left.

However, Shah's actions have frequently sparked debate and raised questions. A notable incident occurred when he left a joint parliamentary session after just 45 minutes, retreating to a chamber within the complex to look at his phone, while the head of state continued reading his government's agenda. An adviser's initial explanation of health concerns was quickly deleted from social media, fueling speculation.

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Shah remained in the chamber, alongside his chief personal secretary, Subash Sharma, for more than half an hour, mostly looking at his phone.

This departure from parliamentary norms is not isolated. Shah previously stood up and left during congratulations for his party's candidate elected Speaker, an incident that went largely unnoticed. More recently, he disrupted the format of mandatory monthly questioning by opposition MPs, announcing they had waited long enough, catching them unprepared and overriding procedural expectations.

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Since Balendra Shah took the oath of office, a pattern has become visible to anyone who has watched the footage closely enough: the prime minister of Nepal has rules, and the rules are about visibility.

Shah's consistent use of sunglasses, even during official photo opportunities with ambassadors and public ceremonies, further contributes to his enigmatic public persona. He avoids one-on-one meetings with diplomats, yet appears with his shades for staged photos, creating a pattern of selective engagement and controlled visibility that has become a hallmark of his premiership.

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He wears his sunglasses in parliament. He wears them at public ceremonies, at military parades, in group photographs with foreign ambassadors. He does not wear them in cabinet meetings, in private conversations, or during joint meetings, he has not held a single one-on-one meeting with any ambassador, with diplomats. Yet, a striking pattern is quite visible: during photo-ops with ambassadors, he appears with his signature black shades.