Nepal polls underway in first election after Gen Z protests: All we need to know

Polling has began in Nepal on Thursday (Mar 5) for a new parliament, six months after deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government. The polls, which close at 5:00 pm (1115 GMT), are one of the most hotly contested elections in the Himalayan republic of 30 million people since the end of a civil war in 2006. The election are a high-stakes showdown between an entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement. AFP visuals showed people queuing up outside polling booths. Nearly 19 million voters are choosing who replaces the interim government in place since the September 2025 uprising, in which at least 77 people were killed, and parliament and scores of government buildings were torched. Gen Z protest began as a demonstration against a brief social media ban in 2025, but were fed by wider grievances at corruption and a woeful economy. Sushila Karki, the interim prime minister, has urged people to vote "without any fear", and thousands of soldiers and police are deployed at polling centres.

More than 3,400 candidates are running for 165 seats in direct elections to the 275-member House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, with 110 more chosen via party lists. Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said that initial results in direct elections results will be published within 24 hours. Results under the proportional representation system may take longer. Analysts say the vote is unlikely to deliver an outright majority for any single party.

Elections are underway in Nepal for the first time after Gen Z protests rocked the country in 2025, uprooting former government under KP Sharma Oli

Who are PM-hopeful?

Key figures contesting for power include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the powerful Nepali Congress party. All three prime ministerial hopefuls are contesting from seats in the farming plains south of the capital. KP Sharma Oli, the 74-year-old Marxist leader ousted as prime minister last year and seeking a return to power, is being challenged in his home constituency of Jhapa by former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician. The Jhapa-5 constituency -- with around 163,000 voters -- will determine whether Oli secures his seat or whether Shah enters parliament. Shah, from the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), has cast himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change, encouraging voters to "ring the bell" of change, in reference to the party symbol. Also in the race as aspiring prime minister is Gagan Thapa, 49, the new head of the country's oldest party, Nepali Congress, who has told AFP he wanted to end the "old age" club of revolving veteran leaders.