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Pushpa Kamal Dahal was elected to the post of prime minister for the third time on 25 Dec 2022. He won the vote of confidence on Jan 10. But within two months into the office, coalition partners CPN-UML, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, and Rastriya Swatantra Party pulled their support from the government. Dahal subsequently forged a new coalition with the Nepali Congress and took the second vote of confidence on March 20. The 100 days of Prime Minister Dahal was mainly spent on power-sharing negotiations and coalition building exercises. Governance-wise, very little was accomplished, as several ministries were without ministers for a long time. In this context,

Pratik Ghimire of ApEx asked some experts and politicians to grade the performance of Prime Minister Dahal out of 100 marks. 

Chandra Mani Adhikari, Political economist

32 out of 100

Prime Minister Dahal spent most part of the past 100 days managing the expectations of the ruling parties and in power-sharing negotiations. While he did make time to meet with economists and businesspersons to discuss the country’s economic problems, he didn’t take any initiative to introduce  plans and policies to fix them. This is an unusual situation. Inflation is on the rise, imports and exports are down, production is low, and people's purchasing power have decreased. The government should already have come up with a new budget and published its plans and policies to address the ongoing economic crisis. Now the Ministry of Finance, and the National Planning Commission has a lot of work to do in a short period of time, and with limited resources. Many regular programs are behind schedule. I can’t give Prime Minister Dahal and his government more than the pass marks. I am giving him the pass marks only because the prime minister has assured the business community that he will make things better.

Deep Kumar Upadhyay, Former Nepali ambassador to India

50 out of 100

The government has not appointed its foreign minister yet. This is definitely not a good sign for our foreign relations and policy. Prime Minister Dahal didn’t go to the Boao forum, and he is planning for an official visit to India, which seems immature because there hasn’t been any preparations. This government has not done any work worth appreciating so far. This is the time to work, not talk. I hope the government will focus on its work. The political parties are busy breaking and making coalitions. The Cabinet was expanded after so much political drama, but some important ministries are still vacant. The parties don’t know how to work, and they are blaming one another. Youths these days laugh at and mock politicians and ministers. Why? Because they have no hope from them. We are yet to see what type of common minimum program this government will bring to deal with the challenges facing the country. So I am still willing to give this government the benefit of doubt, and give it 50 out of 100 marks.

Bipin Adhikari, Constitutionalist 

40 out of 100

The 100 days of the Dahal-led government was marked with desperation. Prime Minister Dahal spent most of the time scrambling to restore stability to his government because his coalition partners backed out within months. The government coalition changed twice in the past 100 days, and Dahal had to take the floor test as many times. The government is still not stable. Parties are joining and leaving the government, and the Cabinet expansion process is still ongoing. There has been no socioeconomic progress at all. One can’t even say if the situation has gone bad or worse, because the government has not done any work yet. There has been no preparations whatsoever to prevent the imminent economic downfall. The government is also planning to award India a new hydropower construction project during Prime Minister Dahal’s visit. This is not a good idea, as India has been unable to deliver other projects within deadline. This has not been a good start for Dahal. I give him and his government 40 out of 100, assuming that 40 is the pass mark. I am giving the pass mark because there is law, order and peace in the country, and there hasn’t been any major legal controversy.

Bimala Rai Paudyal, Former foreign minister

40 out of 100

In the initial days, the government was working at a full pace. I can attest this with my own experience as a former minister of this government. Prime Minister Dahal used to promptly sign the files forwarded by my ministry. But as soon as the disputes over the presidential polls started, the prime minister’s engagement shifted toward forming a new coalition, rather than focusing on government work. He began delaying the approval of files. And after the UML, RPP and RSP left the government, Prime Minister Dahal delayed the expansion of the Cabinet. For a long time, he kept several ministry portfolios to himself. I know how much work a full-time minister has to do in a day, so there is no way one individual could handle the work of 16 ministries. Naturally, the government was unable to focus on service delivery. But I must say that the Ministry of Communication, and the Ministry of Agriculture did perform well during the initial days of this government. I give this government 40 out of 100 marks, hoping it will start performing. 

Indra Adhikari, Political analyst

Below average

I can’t say that this government has not got a passing mark, because there is at least a legitimate government in place. So, the government has passed the exam already, although its performance so far has been below average. The 100 days of Prime Minister Dahal was mainly focused on survival and forming a stable coalition. So when the time came for Cabinet expansion, the political parties were not looking for leaders who could deliver, but someone whose appointment could balance the government. The Cabinet expansion delay has also shown us that there is no organizational structure and system in place to keep our bureaucracy functioning smoothly. Though there are certain rights that the bureaucracy can utilize for service delivery, it has not been using these rights. Our bureaucracy has the tendency of waiting and looking for ministers to show the way. As the Cabinet expansion was delayed, the ministries without ministers could not perform their tasks, which affected the overall service delivery. 

The CPN-UML has left the government in Madhes Province. The ministers participating in the government from the CPN-UML submitted the resignation letter to Chief Minister Saroj Kumar Yadav. UML Madhes Province Parliamentary Party leader and Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Saroj Kumar Yadav said that four ministers and one state minister resigned from the government. But the UML has decided not to withdraw the support extended to the government. Chief Minister Yadav removed the UML ministers from the government after the party left the government following a new power equation at the center. Minister for Physical Infrastructure Development Saroj Kumar Yadav, Minister for Women, Children, Youth and Sports Mohammad Jaid Alam, Minister for Home Affairs and Communications Satrudhan Prasad Singh, Minister for Law Raj Kumar Lekhi and State Minister for Home Affairs and Communications Keshav Raya tendered their resignation. Chief Minister Yadav has accepted the resignation of all the five ministers and also divided the ministries held by them.  

The Election Commission has called for the application from the national organizations for the observation of the by-election to the member of the House of Representatives scheduled for April 23. Issuing a notice today, the EC called for the application along with necessary documents from the national organizations wishing to observe the by-election. The EC as per Schedule-2 of the Election Observation Directives-2079 urged the national organizations to submit the application within seven days. Candidates are filing their nomination for the by-election today. The by-election is taking place at Chitwan-2, Bara-2 and Tanahun-1.  

Economist Dr Swarnim Wagle has filed his nomination for the by-election to the member of the House of Representatives slated for April 23 from the Rastriya Swatantra Party. Wagle filed the nomination by reaching the Chief Election Officer’s Office this afternoon. The by-election is being held in Tahanun-1 for a seat that is vacant after Nepali Congress lawmaker Ram Chandra Paudel was elected to the post of President. Govinda Bhattarai from the Nepali Congress and for IGP Sarbendra Khandal from the CPN-UML have also filed their nominations in Tanahun-1.