Former PM Bhattarai Wishes Incoming Young Leader Balen Shah Success, Cites Historic Responsibility

Kathmandu. Former Prime Minister Dr. Baburam Bhattarai has extended best wishes for a successful tenure to the upcoming young Prime Minister, Engineer Balendra Shah (Balen), who is set to become the first Madhesi-origin youth to hold the post. Sharing his views on social media platform Facebook, Bhattarai stated that Balen shoulders a historic responsibility and expressed confidence that the nation will take a new direction under his leadership.

Noting that the country's economic-political structure has long been mired in internal structural deadlock, Bhattarai advised Balen to break through this stagnation. He mentioned that the new Prime Minister is tasked with skillfully managing the challenges and opportunities arising from the rapidly changing geopolitical landscape externally, in addition to reforming the domestic economy.

Bhattarai expressed his expectation that the new leadership will succeed in fulfilling the modern aspirations of the country and its people in the 21st century. He observed that Nepali politics, having passed through a long and arduous democratization process, is now entering a new phase of good governance and inclusive prosperity.

He emphasized that politics is now transitioning to a digitally savvy and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-friendly younger generation, stressing that this objective reality must be embraced by the entire political circle and the general public. He interpreted the transfer of power from traditional political styles to a technology-friendly generation as the demand of the time and the necessity of the era.

Bhattarai also delivered an important message regarding how society should view young leadership. He stressed the need to create a conducive environment for the new leadership to work, clarifying that there should be neither deification nor demonization of anyone. He stated that the tendency to blindly worship someone as a god or portray them as a demon out of prejudice must end.

Instead, he called upon everyone to develop a new and healthy democratic culture based solely on the merits and demerits of the work done by individuals or parties, fostering cooperation and competition accordingly.