Two weeks of campaign showed a wave of younger candidates promising to tackle economy and challenge veteran politicians who have dominated for two decades.<\/p>\n
As Nepal\u2019s rival parties make a last push on the final day of Nepal\u2019s election campaign, interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki has appealed to people to vote and maintain peace.<\/p>\n
The Himalayan republic will elect a new parliament on Thursday, replacing the interim government that has led the country of 30 million people since the September 2025 uprising, in which at least 77 people were killed.<\/p>\n
Two weeks of campaigning have showcased a wave of younger candidates promising to tackle Nepal\u2019s struggling economy, challenging veteran politicians who have dominated for two decades, and promising stability and security.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo move the country forward on the path of political stability and prosperity, all voters should participate in the upcoming elections,\u201d Karki, a former chief justice, said in a television broadcast to the nation on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI sincerely appeal to you to go to your polling station and vote on Thursday, even if you have to leave other work.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also pleaded for calm. \u201cI request everyone to maintain peace and harmony during this election season,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is only with your active participation that our democracy will survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
Referring to the election being held six months after the Gen Z-led protests, Karki said the situation was \u201ccomplex, sensitive and challenging\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur first duty was to manage that difficult transition, lead the country from the violent phase to a peaceful exit and return it to the path of the constitution,\u201d she said, adding that the Election Commission had completed all preparations.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe government of Nepal and the commission are fully committed to conducting the election in a fair, free and fearless manner,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Nearly 19 million people have registered to vote, including 800,000 likely to take part for the first time.<\/p>\n
They will elect members to the 275-seat House of Representatives, the lower house, with 165 chosen via a direct vote and 110 through proportional representation.<\/p>\n
More than 3,400 candidates are competing in the direct vote, 40 percent aged below 35 years.<\/p>\n
Among the key figures is KP Sharma Oli, the 74-year-old Marxist leader ousted as prime minister last year.<\/p>\n
He faces a high-profile challenge in his home constituency from former Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician widely known as Balen.<\/p>\n
Their constituency of Jhapa-5 \u2013 a mix of towns and farming settlements in Nepal\u2019s eastern plains, with the world\u2019s highest peaks on the horizon \u2013 has emerged as a crucial battleground.<\/p>\n
Oli, speaking to the AFP news agency, blamed \u201canarchic forces\u201d for the violence that led to his removal and denied ordering security forces to kill protesters during the unrest.<\/p>\n
Shah, from the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), has cast himself as a symbol of youth-driven political change. \u201cGen Z\u2019s number one demand is good governance, because there is a high level of corruption in the country,\u201d he told AFP.<\/p>\n
But he is not the only one wooing the youth vote and aspiring to be the prime minister.<\/p>\n
Gagan Thapa, 49, the new head of the country\u2019s oldest party, Nepali Congress, told AFP he wanted to end the \u201cold age\u201d club of revolving veteran leaders.<\/p>\n
Thapa, a former health minister who took charge of the party in January, said he offers voters the \u201cright mix of energy and experience\u201d.<\/p>\n
The last day of campaigning comes just before Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, with some candidates combining celebrations with their rallies.<\/p>\n
Analysts say the vote is unlikely to deliver an outright majority for any single party.<\/p>\n
Source: RhinoEasy News<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Two weeks of campaign showed a wave of younger candidates promising to tackle economy and challenge veteran politicians who have<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2101,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2102\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2101"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhinoeasy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}