Nepal’s Gen-Z Head to the Polls

Supporters of rapper-turned-politician Balenda Shah took to the streets of Kathmandu, Nepal, celebrating his landslide victory in Nepal’s first general elections to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives since the violent Gen-Z protests that engulfed the nation in September. The 2025 protests were triggered by a social media ban that included twenty-six platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube, which escalated into a deadly revolt against the Nepalese government. Just a few weeks before the ban was enacted, a “nepo-kid” viral trend took off across social media, showcasing the lavish lifestyle of politicians’ children, highlighting the grave disparity between the children of the ruling elite and the general populace, whereas the average Nepali citizen made around 1,400 US dollars per year. 

On September 9, 2025, then-incumbent Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) resigned, and Sushila Karki was appointed as the interim prime minister of Nepal three days later. While sixty-eight political parties are vying for office, the main contest is between the CPN, the Nepal Congress Party and the Rastriya Swatantra Party. During the election, while K.P. Sharma Oli’s party struggled to stay afloat, Balenda Shah’s newly-formed Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) widened its lead significantly over Oli’s own home turf, the Jhapa 5 constituency. On Friday evening, the RSP maintained a lead of 110 seats over the CPN, reflecting the public’s rejection of established parties, which have dominated the political landscape for the last eighteen years. The Nepali Congress, which is known as the country’s oldest party, has undergone a major generational shift led by 49-year old Gagan Thampa to aim to strike a new appeal with young voters, and he could guide the party comfortably into an alliance to form a government, even if it does not win a clear majority in the election.

The former mayor of Nepal’s capital city, Kathmandu, and an influential leader among the Gen-Z protesters, the thirty-five-year-old Balendra Shah has highlighted health and education for poor Nepalis as a key focus of his campaign. Shah's administration is expected to inherit daunting challenges: it must deliver on changes demanded by last year’s protests, tackle entrenched corruption and nepotism within the government, and carefully manage diplomatic ties with Nepal’s powerful neighbors: China and India. In Nepal’s eighteen years of democracy, the country has had more than ten different prime ministers, an indication of the country’s deep-rooted political instability. Now, young Nepalese are demanding political stability, calling for the fall of the “old guard” who have commanded decisions across the country.

As the election draws to a close, Nepal finds itself standing at the brink of a historical crossroad, where a restless young generation has risen up to demand transparency and stability after years of political turbulence have overwhelmed the country. Whether Balendra Shah’s rise to power will usher in the reforms that were promised to the Gen-Z protesters in 2025 remains to be seen, but the overwhelming support that he has received have sent a clear message: the young generation is ready for change. 

Read more here:

• Rudabeh Shahid, The Atlantic Council

• Hannah Ellis-Petersen, The Guardian

• Puspa Sharma, National University of Singapore Institute for South Asian Studies