Inherited political vocabulary meets Nepal’s constitutional reality

If executive leadership is described as synonymous with ‘the government,’ citizens may come to view independent constitutional institutions as subordinate extensions of the PM’s office.

The widespread use of the phrase ‘the Balen Government’ is neither surprising nor inherently incorrect. Political language often favours brevity over constitutional precision, and journalists naturally seek expressions that immediately identify the political leadership of the day. In parliamentary democracies across the Commonwealth, ‘government’ has long served as convenient shorthand for the ministry led by the prime minister and the political party or coalition commanding a legislative majority. The expression therefore carries a long linguistic tradition that is both familiar and easily understood.