Nepotism continues under President Ram Chandra Paudel

President Ramchandra Paudel departed for an official visit to Japan on Sunday, accompanied by First Lady Sabita Paudel, leading a Nepali delegation at the invitation of the Japanese government to attend a special ceremony marking 70 years of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Japan.

During the visit, the President met Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo as well as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. He also met members of the Japanese business community and attended a reception hosted in his honour by the Nepali Embassy in Japan, before returning home on Wednesday.

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Continuing a familiar pattern, the President was also accompanied by his daughter, Abagya Paudel, who serves as his Principal Private Secretary. Abagya has previously accompanied the President to international engagements, including the Baku (Azerbaijan) conference and the United Nations Social Development Conference in Doha. However, her qualifications and achievements in the role remain open to question.

Despite the government’s stated commitment to administrative discipline, good governance and austerity drive, limiting foreign trips by the head of state or government to a 10-member delegation, the current visit includes 15 members, among them the President’s Principal Private Secretary.

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Despite media scrutiny and criticism, both the President and the government have continued to overlook such practices. Before her appointment as the interim Prime Minister, Sushila Karki had gone on record stating that corruption could be dealt with in just five days if there were sufficient political will. However, Karki and her government have turned a blind eye to these practices, despite the fact that the recent Gen Z–led protests explicitly challenged nepotism.

The President recently faced another controversy when another of his daughters Sangya Pokhrel appeared on the Nepali Congress’s proportional representation candidate list. Following public criticism, her name was later removed.