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Bibek Bhandari

Sangharsh Bhusal returned to the spot outside Nepal’s parliament building where police shot him last year.
The 28-year-old still bears scars on his head, hand and abdomen from the violence that engulfed Kathmandu during Nepal’s Gen Z uprising, when thousands took to the streets demanding good governance and an end to corruption.
It was here, in front of the seat of power, where many young protesters believed their voices should have been heard when gunfire rang out.
At least 77 people – including three police officers – were killed in the September 8 violence and unrest the following day, according to official accounts. The turmoil forced prime minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign and led to the formation of an interim government headed by Prime Minister Sushila Karki, Nepal’s first woman leader.
Six months on, nearly 19 million Nepalis are registered to vote in Thursday’s election, choosing 275 members of the lower house under a mixed system combining direct contests for 165 seats with proportional representation for the rest.
For millions raised amid revolving-door governments and ageing political elites, the vote is a test of whether a generational shift can lift one of the world’s poorest economies and deliver stability.
“This election is the best way to move forward,” Bhusal said, who had returned after studying in Australia months before the protest. “This might be a turning point, and there is a small light of hope.”

Young Turks
Voters say mainstream parties have failed to deliver despite upheaval and changes to Nepal’s political system over the past 36 years – from monarchy to multiparty democracy and from Maoist insurgency to republic.
In 2022, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) emerged as an alternative force, becoming the fourth largest party in parliament and pitching itself as a vehicle for change.
As 29-year-old Sasmit Pokharel campaigned in his Kathmandu constituency, supporters rang bells – the party’s electoral symbol – and welcomed him with handshakes and smiles.
He calls the RSP “the party of the youth”, with several Gen Z candidates contesting seats.
Sudip Thapa, a Macau returnee in his late 40s who is an RSP supporter, said: “We are frustrated with the old parties and will vote for the young now. Sasmit has a background in law and will help formulate good policies after reaching the parliament.”

Yet it is the 35-year-old former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, better known as Balen, who has injected fresh momentum into the campaign.
A rapper-turned-engineer, Shah made headlines for municipal reforms as mayor but also drew criticism for his combative style, public spats with staff and forceful deployment of municipal police against street vendors.
Now the RSP’s prime ministerial candidate, he rarely speaks with reporters and gives little away.
Even so, many young voters see him as their strongest representative. He is directly challenging Oli in the eastern district of Jhapa, the former prime minister’s stronghold.
“We want Balen, but not in the same way he is now,” said Majid Ansari, a Gen Z leader from Morang district. “He tends to kind of abuse power. I want him to be a good leader without the same attitude.”

Populism vs pragmatism
The RSP has cast itself as a supporter of reforms and rails against corruption, but it remains a personality-driven party and lacks a clear ideological anchor, according to analysts.
Its president, Rabi Lamichhane – a former television presenter and ex-home minister facing a corruption case – and Shah are largely untested in democratic governance, with observers warning of populist tendencies.
Jeevan Sharma, a professor of South Asia and international development at the University of Edinburgh, said popular figures such as Shah might channel public anger but would unlikely transform Nepal’s political landscape on their own.
“What we are witnessing is the urge for radical change, but bringing about structural changes will need institutional reform and long-term political vision,” Sharma said in an interview.


The Nepali Congress signalled its own internal shift in January when 49-year-old Gagan Thapa replaced Sher Bahadur Deuba, 79, as party president after a special convention amid mounting dissent.
Oli has maintained a firm grip over his party, while two pro-monarchy groups have merged as the Rastriya Prajatantra Party and 10 communist factions have united as the Nepali Communist Party in a bid to broaden their appeal.
Even so, Sharma said a majority government appeared unlikely under Nepal’s mixed system, suggesting coalition politics would continue to shape any incoming administration.
“Stability will not come from personalities – it must come from rules and processes,” Gagan Thapa told This Week in Asia. “A government that performs earns the moral and political authority to complete its full term and deliver lasting reform.”

Voting for change
All major parties have pledged economic growth and job creation. But many young voters, scrutinising manifestos more closely than before, describe them as “ambitious” yet “unrealistic”.
“We are hopeful of the new candidates but also hope they don’t fall into the same old patterns,” said Anusha Khanal, 27.
Aakriti Ghimire, who runs How to Desh Bikas, a political literacy account on Instagram, said the country needed to dismantle what she described as a nexus between political leaders, industries and the bureaucracy.
“I hope we’re able to break through that nexus and design people-centric policies, so we don’t repeat the same cycle,” she said. “The responsibility for us citizens is even more urgent and even more pressing as we move towards this new government.”
Ghimire plans to build a public dashboard to track the next government’s performance, while Gagan Thapa has proposed a prime minister’s governance lab to monitor public service timelines.
Pokharel said Nepal’s future leaders should be subject to greater scrutiny by young voters. “I would want youth support, but I would also want youth to question us because we should be accountable. I do not see that as a challenge, but as something very hopeful.”

While election fervour has gripped much of the country, not everyone plans to vote.
In Panauti in Kavrepalanchok district, about 30km (18 miles) southeast of Kathmandu, more than a dozen 18- to 22-year-olds said they felt disengaged and doubted their electoral choices would help ease daily struggles.
“I didn’t register to vote because nothing will change for us whoever wins,” said Soni Sainju, a college student. “We need to walk for an hour to get to classes, and there are no regular buses. I don’t even think we’ll get good-paying jobs after we graduate. Going abroad would be the best option.”
The World Bank estimates Nepal’s youth unemployment rate at 20.8 per cent, pushing some 2,300 Nepalis to leave the country in search of foreign job opportunities every day.
The 2021 census shows more than 2.1 million Nepalis living overseas – 77 per cent of them for work – most of whom are unable to vote because Nepal does not allow out-of-country voting.
Back in Kathmandu, some injured Gen Z protesters have been camping outside the parliament building, demanding the release of a government report into the September violence and accountability for those responsible.
Bijaya Adhikari, 22, who was shot five times in the leg, is among them.

Originally from Rukum district, he said that even the Maoists, who swept to a landslide victory in the 2007 election after ending their insurgency, had ultimately forgotten the people they once claimed to represent.
“It feels like the same people and parties – even the new ones – but in different forms are promising us development now,” he said. “How do we believe them?”
Bhusal, however, wants to channel his anger differently.
He stands alongside families of the dead and injured, some of whom are contesting the election, to ensure their demands are not erased by time or politics.
“We are still waiting for justice,” he said. “But before that, we should also vote. Unless we do that, nothing will change.”


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An art exhibition in Kathmandu displays slogans used in the Gen Z protest in September last year. Photo: Bibek Bhandari

Sangharsh Bhusal was shot during the Gen Z protests in Nepal last year and now advocates for the rights of those injured. Photo: Bibek Bhandari 

Sasmit Pokharel from the  Rastriya Prajatantra Party, along with his wife, Sushmita Adhikari, during his election campaign in Kathmandu. Photo: Bibek Bhandari 

Visitors evaluate party manifestos at an event organised by Gen Z Movement Alliance in Kathmandu. Photo: Bibek Bhandari 

Locals soak up the spring sun under the Nepali Congress flag in Panauti, some 30km from Kathmandu. Photo: Bibek Bhandari 

A campaign poster of an independent candidate in the town of Panauti, some 30km from Kathmandu. Photo: Bibek Bhandari 

A memorial created for young people killed in the 2025 Gen Z protests outside the parliament building in Nepal. Photo: Bibek Bhandari 

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A view of the Maya Devi Temple, the birth site of Buddha and a Unesco World Heritage site in Lumbini, Nepal. Photo: Bibek Bhandari 

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While all the parties have pledged economic growth and job creation, thousands are leaving Nepal each day in search of a better life


While all the parties have pledged economic growth and job creation, thousands are leaving Nepal each day in search of a better life.


Young Nepalis hope post-uprising election candidates shun ‘same old patterns’

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}While all the parties have pledged economic growth and job creation, thousands are leaving Nepal each day in search of a better life

While all the parties have pledged economic growth and job creation, thousands are leaving Nepal each day in search of a better life