Nepalis vote in general elections months after Generation Z uprising | News

Full results may not be known for another week, but trends are expected to start emerging on Friday.

Nepalis voted in elections to elect a new parliament amid hopes for change, nearly six months after deadly Generation Z protests forced Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli to resign.

Counting at most polling stations was due to begin after polls closed at 5:00 pm (11:15 GMT) on Thursday, with the first trends likely to emerge on Friday, Electoral Commission officials said. However, full results could take a week.

Turnout in the vote to elect 275 members of the House of Representatives was estimated at 60 percent, Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari told a news conference.

“Apart from some isolated incidents of obstruction, preliminary reports from domestic and international observers deployed to monitor the elections also indicate that the elections were conducted peacefully,” he said.

Turnout in the country’s previous election in 2022 was 61 percent.

The vote comes months after youth-led protests shook the South Asian nation as thousands of young Nepalis took to the streets to demand accountability, jobs and an end to corruption. At least 77 people were reported killed in the protests led by Generation Z.

‘Many people gave their lives’

Voters directly elect 165 members of the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament.

The remaining 110 seats in the 275-member body will be allocated through a proportional representation system, under which political parties nominate lawmakers based on their vote share.

“I came to vote mainly because of the protest and many people gave their lives in the hope of a change, in the hope of seeing a better Nepal,” Luniva, who is voting for the first time, told The Associated Press news agency.

“I want to see my country improve because of all the sacrifices that have been made.”

Promises to create jobs, curb corruption and improve governance – all demands raised during the September protests – dominated much of the election campaign.

“The election is critical to addressing the aspirations of young people expressed during the Generation Z protests,” political analyst Puranjan Acharya told Reuters news agency.

“If newly elected leaders are deemed unfit to do so, there is a risk of further problems.”

Three-way contest

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), a centrist party formed less than four years ago, is considered the favorite and a strong rival of two long-dominant parties: the Nepali Congress and former Prime Minister Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist).

The RSP’s prime ministerial candidate is rapper-turned-politician and former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, who emerged as a leading figure in the 2025 uprising.

Oli is back in the running, along with more than 3,400 candidates from 65 parties.

But Shah, 35, drew huge crowds during the campaign and connected with legions of young voters clamoring for change.