Vibrant debates and renewed party processes around political leadership have been among the defining impacts of the Gen Z protests.
– Prem Darshan Sapkota and Srishti Adhikari
9th December 2025
The September Gen Z protests, initiated as a call for anti-corruption, have ignited broader national conversation on political leadership. The most evident impact of the protests has been the way the actions of the young protesters have forced political parties, civil society and the public to rethink, reimagine and truly converse on what political leadership needs to look like for Nepal. From the search for new generation of leadership in the traditional political parties, the reshuffling and unification of multiple factions seeking more progressive direction, to the emergence of new political parties claiming to be different and a worthy alternative, debates about who will lead Nepal’s political future have started both amongst the political cadres and the public. In the traditional political parties, headed by the big three, conversations have centered around generational representation, accountability, clean image and the capacity to handle difficulties of leadership both internally and externally. While previously, issues of inclusion, caste and identity featured high on the list of agendas for discussion and political representation, with the Gen Z protests, conversations have shifted to the need for political leadership to address across generations of the public.
Although none of the three major political leaders had faced open challenges from within their party leadership before the protests, discontent among the public was steadily growing over their continued dominance and the perceived stagnation of political leadership. A survey conducted prior to the September protests clearly showed that there is diminishing trust in political leadership and a growing reluctance to affiliate oneself with specific political party. Thus, the fatigue with the existing political leadership evident during the protests was present not just amongst the younger generation but with the Nepali public. While previously, discontent was voiced mostly in informal discussions, now the conversations are being held out in the open. Despite the big two parties, Nepali Congress and CPN- UML gearing up for party conventions, the crisis of leadership which was felt by the people continues to persist as parties grapple with reinventing and repackaging themselves.
On the other end of the spectrum, we have seven different smaller factions of communist parties coming together with the CPN (Maoist Centre) and the CPN (Unified Socialist) to form a unified leftist party.1 This reshuffling and unification of communist parties to present a united front to become a more credible force is also a consequence of the Gen Z protests. Similarly, in the Madhesh Province, traditional Madhesh based parties and those representing marginalized communities are trying to come together for a loose alliance to strengthen their position in the elections.2 Even the right leaning Rastriya Prajatantra Party and Rastriya Prajatantra Party- Nepal are in talks for unification. These attempts at negotiations for power and leadership across the political spectrum indicate that political parties are looking to reclaim leadership in different ways.
While factions within the traditional parties are duking it over whether a change is warranted or if there are viable alternatives to the stature of the big trio in the current situation, we have also seen a flurry of up-and-coming political parties vying to carve their own space. The genesis of most of the new parties can be attributed to the opening provided by the changes from the protests. Currently, 120 parties are set to contest the upcoming elections, a significant increase from the 86 that participated in the 2022 elections. More than a third of the parties entering the race for elections were registered after the September protests. 3 By questioning the leadership and performance of the traditional political parties, Gen Z have created an enabling environment for potential aspirants to try their hands at political leadership.
The leadership in these new parties tells its own story. A lot of the new parties are headed or have the backing of businesses, former bureaucrats, those with long experiences in the non-governmental sector and young leaders. In the chaos and uncertainty that has ensued after the protests, everyone seems to fancy taking a shot at political leadership of one kind or the other. While this increased political awareness and interest can be largely viewed as a positive sign for democracy in the country, it also overwhelms an electoral system that has traditionally had to accommodate a large political spectrum.
The protests have led to a situation that has required the established parties to either reclaim political leadership by regaining the trust of the people or allow the newer parties to take the helm. The pressure on leadership, although unacknowledged, is apparent. The upcoming party conventions are the most democratic way of putting their leadership to the test. Furthermore, they will also ensure generational representation at the central committee level. The reshaping of political leadership in the traditional parties will be determined by their internal process during party conventions and the reunification process. With the wide gamut of permutations and combinations available, the public may be spoilt for choice during the upcoming elections. However, the paucity of trust in political leadership that was evident prior to the protests is still an issue. Therefore, elections will both be a test of whether the efforts to renew leadership of the older parties have been successful and if the new parties with their claims of being different and offering a true alternative to the current political parties pass muster with the public. The upcoming elections will ultimately decide if Nepalis and their political parties manage to survive this crisis of leadership.
1 https://kathmandupost.com/politics/2025/11/03/maoist-led-leftist-unity-moves-ahead-amid-doubts
2 https://kathmandupost.com/national/2025/01/11/as-electoral-law-revision-looms-madhesh-parties-mull-an-alliance-for-resistance
3 https://kathmandupost.com/politics/2025/12/01/a-total-of-120-parties-seek-to-contest-march-5-elections
