Prime Minister Balendra Shah is a rare visitor to Parliament. He has often been criticised for not answering lawmakers’ queries. Shah, however, has been listening to the issues they raise in the House of Representatives.

Evidently, he met young parliamentarians from his party on Friday. As the MPs present in the meeting told Kantipur, he had suggestions for them. 

The prime minister with the backing of a near two-thirds majority in the House urged lawmakers from the Gen Z category to bring a different perspective to Parliament. They should not limit themselves to questioning the government but also suggest ways to address the problems they raise.

After the government completed 100 days in office in early July, even lawmakers from the ruling Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) started criticising the government for its failures to alleviate public suffering.

Earlier, MPs from other parties, including Harka Raj Rai of the Shram Sanskriti Party, repeatedly asked the prime minister to come to the House and answer their queries. When Shah continued to ignore their calls, Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle in June answered, on the PM’s behalf, questions related to budget allocation under some ministries that the premier then watched over.

In the weeks since, voices of opposition in Parliament have grown, particularly over shortages of essentials such as cooking gas.

During the meeting on Friday with some RSP lawmakers under 30, Shah said he had been closely following Parliament’s interventions in government and wanted them to take a more solution-oriented approach.

According to lawmakers who attended the meeting, Shah said repeated questioning without proposed solutions was making it difficult for the government to focus on its actions.

“The prime minister said there were questions in Parliament, but young lawmakers were not offering ways to address them,” an RSP lawmaker said.

Shah also shared his view with the lawmakers that Parliament should not be seen only as a place to raise questions, but also as a forum for proposing solutions and bringing about reforms.

On the problems facing common citizens, particularly the youth, Shah said Nepal had limited employment opportunities and had failed to make sufficient progress in multiple sectors. The prime minister reportedly suggested that young lawmakers could work towards improving affairs in areas such as film, music, literature and sports.

Shah also brought up the issue of youths’ growing interest in politics, particularly after the Gen Z revolution of last September. In the past year, the prime minister has been able to rally youths to his calls, often expressed on social media.

“In the past, only a few people were interested in politics, while young people were interested in sports, music and film,” Shah said, according to lawmakers. “Now everyone seems interested in politics. We should focus on how to connect young people and future generations with those sectors as well.”

Lawmakers also raised issues related to information technology, startups, sports, employment, governance and the demands of the Gen Z movement.

Lawmaker Smriti Senchuri said Shah asked what the younger generation wanted from the IT sector and whether young MPs had been able to deliver anything for them. She said the prime minister encouraged them to create platforms and pursue businesses alongside politics.

Shah also suggested that young lawmakers could encourage the younger generation to be associated with startups.

Sulav Kharel said he called for reforms to the electoral system and laws governing political parties in line with the demands of the Gen Z movement. He also told the prime minister that social problems should be addressed through long-term policy reforms and that legal procedures should be followed.

Shivshankar Yadav noted that Shah's remarks reflected a view that politics pursued by younger generations should be different. Yadav said the prime minister wanted to connect young people with IT and sports, create employment through sports and address drug addiction among young people in Madhesh Province.

Yadav also raised concerns about a lack of inclusiveness in government appointments. He reportedly told the prime minister that inclusiveness was being compromised in the name of meritocracy.

In response, Shah said his government was still in its early stages and was learning as it moved forward.

“This should be taken as the first semester,” Yadav quoted Shah as saying. “We are receiving many inputs from many places. We have to keep improving as we move forward.”

KP Khanal said he stressed the need to encourage young people in IT, improve grassroots sports, beautify cities and rivers, and urged the central government to work with provincial and local governments to implement such programmes. He also called for better promotion of tourist destinations in Sudurpaschim Province.

Shah told the lawmakers that he was paying close attention to their issues and was particularly interested in how young MPs would play distinct roles in the coming days.

The prime minister shared his observation that Gen Z lawmakers had been presenting themselves in the House the same way as those over 60 years of age, Khanal said. “He wants Gen Z lawmakers to voice the concerns of future generations.”

According to Khanal, Shah also encouraged young lawmakers to develop professional careers alongside politics so they would have a means of livelihood even when their political careers ended.

Manish Khanal said most lawmakers at the meeting raised issues associated with the Gen Z movement. They told Shah that because the government had been formed on the back of the movement, it should explain how the youths’ demands would be addressed.

Shraddha Kunwar urged the government to make greater use of the time, energy and experience of Gen Z lawmakers and engage them beyond their parliamentary duties.

She also called for the prime minister's office to keep lawmakers informed about the government’s activities and raised the issue of people still being in detention over their involvement in the Gen Z movement. She asked the government to consider releasing those detained based on the nature of their involvement in the protests.

Kunwar also stressed the need to control inflation during the festival season.

Kharel said he wants the government to institutionalise the demands of the Gen Z movement through their parliamentary endorsement. He said Parliament should take ownership of the demands and amend laws where necessary to address calls for good governance, transparency, the rule of law and an end to corruption.

Shah also told the lawmakers that arrangements were being made for ministers to meet MPs every day. Each minister would be required to set aside one hour daily to meet lawmakers, according to the participants.

The prime minister also promised the youth leaders to increase the frequency of his meetings with lawmakers.