KATHMANDU: Nepal&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nepal-votes-in-key-postuprising-polls" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">voted</a>&nbsp;on Thursday for a new parliament in a high-stakes showdown between an entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement, six months after deadly anti-corruption protests&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nepals-gen-z-pins-hopes-on-postuprising-elections" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">toppled the government</a>. 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. Election commission officials began collecting ballot boxes after voting closed, with papers to be taken under guard to a center in each constituency, before counting starts. Some winners are expected to be published as early as Friday, but full results may take several days. &quot;Nepalis have been waiting for change for so long, from one system to another,&quot; said Nilanta Shakya, 60, a retired engineer, who was among the first to vote at a college in the capital, Kathmandu. &quot;I hope there is a meaningful change this time,&quot; she added. Voters have chosen 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. Youth-led protests under a loose Gen Z banner began as a demonstration against a brief social media ban, but were fed by wider grievances at corruption and a woeful economy. <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nepals-exchief-justice-sushila-karki-becomes-interim-premier-after-protests" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sushila Karki</a>, the interim prime minister, said the vote was critical in &quot;determining our future&quot;. The polls 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. Thousands of soldiers and police have been deployed. The election saw a wave of younger candidates promising to tackle Nepal&#39;s dismal economy, challenging veteran politicians who have dominated for decades and argue that their experience guarantees stability and security. &quot;Today feels like a day of celebration,&quot; said Nirmala Bhandari, 50, a housewife, who danced in the street with friends for a video for social media, after casting her vote in Bhaktapur district outside the capital. &quot;I am hopeful that the country will get new leaders and that we will build a better nation.&quot; &#39;Blood will bring change&#39; Helicopters will be used to collect ballot boxes from snowbound mountain regions across Nepal, home to eight of the world&#39;s 10 highest peaks, including&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/hundreds-of-hikers-rescued-from-everest-after-severe-snowstorm" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mount Everest.</a> But all eyes will be focused on the hot farming plains south of Kathmandu, where all three prime ministerial hopefuls contested seats &ndash; a departure from past elections that focused on 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 the usually sleepy eastern district of Jhapa by former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician. &quot;This election must reestablish democracy and contribute to end non-political, anarchic and violent tendencies,&quot; Oli said after voting, insisting his party would win the largest number of seats. 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), who queued to vote in Kathmandu dressed in a black suit and sunglasses, has cast himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change. Also in the race as aspiring prime minister is Gagan Thapa, 49, the new head of the country&#39;s oldest party, Nepali Congress, who has said he wants to end the &quot;old age&quot; club of revolving veteran leaders. After casting his ballot, Thapa told AFP that it is &quot;the duty of the leaders&quot; not to let the events of last September occur again. On social media, voters shared images of their ink-marked thumbs &ndash; alongside photographs of the September protests. &quot;At the Gen Z protest, people died &ndash; and their blood will bring change, we hope,&quot; said Tek Bahadur Aale, 66, who voted in Jhapa. &quot;We hope a government with good governance, no corruption, comes this time.&quot; 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. Analysts say the vote is unlikely to deliver an outright majority for any party.

Security personnel and electoral officials carry ballot boxes to the counting centre after voting ends at a polling station during Nepal's general election in Lalitpur on March 5, 2026. (AFP)

Nepal

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.

Nepal awaits results in key post-uprising polls

JHAPA: Nepali candidates launched campaigning on Monday for next month&#39;s parliamentary elections, the first since deadly anti-corruption&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/gen-z-protests-digital-platforms-fuel-change-from-asia-to-africa" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">protests</a>&nbsp;toppled the previous government in 2025. In the key battleground of Jhapa-5 &mdash; a constituency in Nepal&#39;s eastern plains with the world&#39;s highest peaks on the horizon &mdash; a head-to-head political fight dominating the campaign was already heating up. The ousted former prime minister&#39;s bid to return to power &mdash;&nbsp;73-year-old Marxist leader KP&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nepals-exchief-justice-sushila-karki-becomes-interim-premier-after-protests" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sharma Oli</a>&nbsp;&mdash; is being challenged on his home turf by a rapper-turned-mayor casting himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change, 35-year-old Balendra Shah. Both Oli and Shah kicked off campaigning in Jhapa on Monday, wooing voters to their cause. &quot;KP Oli is a need of this nation,&quot; 66-year-old Jhapa resident Hima Karki told AFP, one of 163,000 voters in the constituency, a mix of towns and farming settlements. &quot;He is the savior of the nation, and his victory from here is certain.&quot; Others were more doubtful of Oli&#39;s return to power. &quot;Only the youth can bring change,&quot; said Chhabi Khatiwoda, 33, a Jhapa resident who has switched his support from Oli to Shah, who has joined the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), the fourth biggest in the last parliament. &quot;It is high time we all became politically aware and work for new Nepal.&quot; The youth-led protests in September were triggered by a brief&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/meta-urges-australia-to-change-teen-social-media-ban" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">social media ban</a>, but were fueled by anger at economic stagnation and an ageing elite seen as out of touch. Over two days in September, 77 people were killed, scores were injured, hundreds of buildings set on fire &mdash; including parliament, courts and a Hilton hotel &mdash; and Oli was ousted. It was the Himalayan nation&#39;s worst violence since a decade-long civil war ended in 2006. &quot;This election will draw the future of the country,&quot; Sushila Karki, who is serving as interim prime minister until the March 5 vote, said ahead of the start of campaigning. Young and old Two weeks of campaigns will see a host of new, younger candidates promise to offer change, challenging veteran politicians who say they provide stability and security. &quot;Today is the first day,&quot; Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane told AFP, but said that the active participation of parties was &quot;a good signal of a positive environment for the election&quot;. Shah, who first gained national attention through Nepal&#39;s underground hip-hop scene, releasing songs that railed against corruption and inequality, cultivated a devoted following on social media.&nbsp;But Oli-loyalist Hima Karki said the election battle would not be won online. &quot;Others may win on social media but we will win in the real election,&quot; he said. Also in the race is Nepali Congress, the country&rsquo;s oldest party. It was once part of Oli&#39;s coalition government, but has elected a new leader since the uprising &mdash;&nbsp;49 year old Gagan Thapa. And, at the other end of the spectrum from&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/angry-with-governments-the-worlds-young-fill-streets-as-gen-z-protest" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gen Z politics</a>, supporters of the ex king Gyanendra Shah, 78 &mdash; deposed in 2008, ending 240 years of monarchy &mdash; will also campaign. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which draws support from royalist nostalgia and frustration with mainstream politics, rallied thousands in Kathmandu on Friday as the ex-king drove through the streets waving from his car. &#39;Way out&#39; Nearly 19 million people have registered to vote, including 800,000 taking part for the first time. They will elect members to the 275-seat House of Representatives, the lower house, with 165 via a direct vote and 110 through proportional representation. More than 3,400 candidates are competing in the direct vote, 30%&nbsp;aged under 40. Campaign banners and party flags are already being strung up in towns, with a string of rallies planned as candidates seek to woo voters. &quot;This election is being conducted in a special condition,&quot; former chief justice Karki said, as she oversaw polling preparations last week. &quot;This has to give the country a way out.&quot; The Election Commission has said it is ready to hold the polls as planned despite concerns over weather conditions, as many high-altitude areas may be snowbound that early in the year. The vote is being held unusually early in the year, due to an accelerated election schedule brought on by the September unrest. Extra security forces have been drafted to ensure calm, with around 300,000 officers and temporary election police deployed.

Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli (2L), Nepal's former prime minister and Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) leader, greets supporters during a door-to-door election campaign rally in Damak, Jhapa district on February 16, 2026. (AFP)

Articles tagged with "Sharma Oli"

Nepal awaits results in key post-uprising polls

Nepal launches campaigns for first post-uprising polls