I must state upfront that I am neither a member, nor an official endorser of Kul Man Ghising's recently unveiled Ujyaulo Nepal Party (UNP). However, in a political landscape that often rewards personality over competence and exclusion over diversity, the UNP is exhibiting structural qualities that are, quite frankly, fresh, unprecedented and worthy of serious public discussion.
The persistent search for a solitary hero—the charismatic individual who will single-handedly slay the democratic ‘villain’—is, as the German playwright Bertolt Brecht warned, the mark of an unhappy land marred by systemic failure. This perpetual quest for an individual savior has long undermined institutional reform in Nepal. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), for instance, was largely built on the charisma of a single leader. The high-profile departures of key figures, notably Santosh Pariyar and Sumana Shrestha, illustrated the inherent vulnerability of this leader-centric model. Pariyar’s exit exposed a crisis of substantive inclusion, demonstrating the leadership’s difficulty in integrating diverse voices. Shrestha’s resignation, conversely, highlighted a failure of meritocracy and intra-party democracy, suggesting that the focus on a personality can quickly compromise a movement’s stated systemic principles.
This is where the UNP offers a compelling, albeit cautious, contrast. It appears to be an attempt to leverage the public trust in Ghising’s proven competence—a crucial national brand—to build a sustainable, systemic party, rather than a transient personality cult. The party’s decision to name former Energy Secretary Anup Kumar Upadhyay as its chairperson—a figure whose reputation rests entirely on bureaucratic and technical results—is a powerful rejection of the political-patronage model, prioritizing implementation over rhetoric. Furthermore, the party is attracting specialized ‘doers’ from non-political spheres. Figures like Shree Gurung and Kushal Gurung, young entrepreneurs with extensive records in tourism, media, renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, are involved, signaling a commitment to embedding technical proficiency into policy formation and shifting the focus from the heroic leader to the competent administrator.
Crucially, the UNP has made a visible effort to ensure its central steering bodies reflect the nation’s ethnic mosaic. Unlike other rising parties whose leadership often mirrors a narrow, social circle of mainly Khas-Arya communities, the UNP’s foundation visibly includes highly competent experts from Dalit and Indigenous nationalities communities. This level of upfront, intentional inclusion is a systemic attempt to correct the historical elite dominance that marginalized communities fought against for decades. This diversity is not mere tokenism; it is the vital ingredient that ensures the party is truly national in character, capable of addressing the nuanced needs of a multi-ethnic society, and thus more equipped to build robust national institutions.
Despite these foundational strengths, the UNP faces the grave challenge of transitioning from relying on the heroic brand of Kul Man Ghising to establishing a robust political institution. The party must be extremely vigilant in protecting itself against the influence of extremist elements of the indigenous nationalities—those who might seek to leverage the platform to promote a polarizing form of Khas-Arya hating ethnic sectarianism. If the UNP allows its inclusive structure to be hijacked by divisive identity politics, it will undermine the very systemic unity that the federal, democratic republic was hard-won to achieve.
Human political history, from the collapse of the First French Empire after Napoleon to the fragmentation following Tito’s death in the Balkans, teaches us that the hero’s reign is inevitably temporal, and the structure built around him will crumble without a self-sustaining system. The UNP offers a tantalizing new formula for Nepali politics. It is time to move past the seasonal heroism shown by populists who seek to dismantle the republic’s progressive achievements. The UNP’s ultimate test is whether it can successfully embody the principle that developed nations progress not by searching for heroes, but by institutionalizing competence, inclusion, and a commitment to the democratic system.
