Nepal, Nov. 14 -- On November 6, speaking in Chitwan, Rabi Lamichhane questioned two decisions of the government: the transfer of Nepal Police chief Dan Bahadur Karki and the detention of journalists. Balendra Shah is the prime minister who answers for those decisions. Lamichhane is the party chair who suggested, in the same speech, that the party could step in. Media coverage read the moment as a possible clash between the two men, while Lamichhane used the occasion to defend their relationship.

Behind that speech sits a question the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has avoided since the day Shah joined it: who is the real prime minister of Nepal? The Constitution points to one man, and a party statute approved in June hands extraordinary...