On 5 March, Nepal takes to the polls for a general election unlike any it has previously experienced. Triggered by the mass protests that rocked the country in September 2025, this election will be crucial not only for the future of youth politics in Nepal, but in other democracies across the Global South, where Nepal’s youth movement has helped to inspire similar ‘Gen Z’ protests.
Nepal’s elections are taking place six months after protests triggered by corruption, unemployment and wealth disparity led to the resignation of K.P. Sharma Oli as prime minister and the subsequent dissolution of Parliament on 12 September 2025. The former Chief Justice of Nepal, Sushila Karki, was chosen as interim prime minister on the online communication platform Discord.
Now, six months on, Gen Z will play a significant role in shaping the next phase of Nepal’s political process. More than 800,000 new voters have registered to vote – over two thirds of whom are ‘Gen Z’.
The stakes are high, especially after the world’s first ‘Gen Z-inspired election’ in Bangladesh. Nepal’s September protests took place as part of a wave of youth movements across the world, from Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines to Morocco, Madagascar, Peru and Bulgaria. Nepal’s elections are therefore a testbed for a critical question: can the energy of Gen Z protests translate into electoral success?
Yet whoever wins in the elections, Nepal’s youth have already shown themselves to be successful drivers of their political process. In demanding an alternative to corrupt government and shaping Nepalese politics, Gen Z protesters have demonstrated at least a short-term success for a nascent movement. This election is the beginning, rather than the end, for youth politics in the nation and beyond.
Out with the old, in with the new?
Gen Z – and the issues they protested against in September 2025 – are central to campaigning politicians this election cycle.
Around 120 political parties have registered for the 5 March election, the most parties to participate in an election in Nepal since the country’s democracy was restored in 2006. More than a third of the competing parties were formed after the Gen Z protests, including many parties formed by protesters themselves.
While some confusion will no doubt be sown by the wave of new politicians in the mix, it also offers the chance for Gen Z protesters to solidify and formalize their role in a new Nepal.
The relatively young and popular mayor of Kathmandu, Balen Shah, is considered by many to be the frontrunner for the prime minister role. Formerly an independent candidate, Shah recently joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), a party which came fourth in the general election in 2022. But despite this new allegiance, Shah has signaled he is still a member of the anti-establishment youth.
The former rapper has long attacked Nepal’s ruling class in his music, and has largely shunned the mainstream press in favour of using social media to disseminate campaign messages. His image as a digital native, and his vocal adoption of platforms such as Facebook, suggests an understanding of Gen Z as his most important audience.
Social media battlegrounds
Nepal’s Gen Z protests were triggered, if not defined by, the ban on several key social media platforms in the country. Protesters’ subsequent use of platforms such as TikTok and Discord to shape the movement revealed the importance of these tools to young Nepalis.
Social media is also playing a significant role in this election. Traditional analogue election material, such as pamphlets, flags, and banners, have reportedly been largely replaced by primarily digital campaigns.
Nepal’s Election Commission is also taking steps to discourage the spread of misinformation on social media platforms, and has announced stricter monitoring of election-related advertising on social media. This process involves the flagging of harmful or false content to regulators, and the commission said it was working with platforms such as Meta and TikTok to remove such posts.
In this sphere, Nepal’s establishment has learned its lesson from the September protests and has opted for a vigilant yet less repressive approach to social media moderation. The new approach now seeks to promote safety rather than curb speech.
Its execution has likely been challenging – social media firms are typically under-resourced on moderation in languages other than English. But the establishment of election-specific content moderation nevertheless signifies a commitment to moderate without shutting down freedom of expression, representing a different approach to Nepal’s neighbours in China and India, which have opted for stricter approaches to social media.
Sustaining a movement
For perhaps the first time, young people are at the forefront of political campaigns in a Nepali general election. But Gen Z protests will not necessarily translate neatly into polling victory. The September 2025 protests coalesced around anti-corruption and anti-government themes – they were a reaction against the current state of Nepal, rather than a demonstration for a specific leader or party.
These are necessarily broad and simple narratives for a mass movement, but may be too vague for a politician to build a platform on. Even an elected leader sympathetic to – or part of – the Gen Z movement may find it challenging to translate protest fervour into concrete policy change. Many issues that brought Nepal’s youth to the streets are long-term challenges without easy solutions; for example, the high rates of unemployment and poverty in the country.