Following elections that saw a resounding defeat for traditional parties, Nepal is now reeling from the death of a 16-year-old girl who died as a result of rape. This horrific story brings women’s issues back into the spotlight in a country where women make up just 8% of the newly elected parliament and have little protection in the workplace.
While former rapper and Kathmandu mayor Balendra “Balen” Shah seems destined to become the new prime minister, Apostolic Administrator Fr. Silas Krishna Bogati asks the future government to focus on fighting corruption, employment, and political stability, expressing hope that the protection of religious freedom for minorities will continue.
Partial results in Nepal’s election to the House of Representatives clearly show the victory of the party led by a 35-year-old rapper, a former mayor of the capital. Voter turnout was low. Both the Communist Party and the Congress Party suffered a heavy defeat. After the Generation Z revolution, the vote suggests a compromise between stability and change.
Some 19 million people can cast their ballot tomorrow to elect the 275-member House of Representatives, a crucial step after the Generation Z Revolution. For the outgoing caretaker prime minister, this is a “historic and important juncture”. Fears are high over the possible impact of the war in the Gulf, where two million Nepali migrants work.
There have already been several victims among the many expatriate communities. The first death in the Jewish state from an Iranian missile was that of a Filipino caregiver. The conflict has also spread to the seas, with a seafarer killed on an oil tanker off the coast of Oman. A Pakistani, a Nepalese and a Bangladeshi citizen are the three people killed in the United Arab Emirates.
After Generation Z’s anti-corruption demonstrations in September 2025 led to the fall of KP Sharma Oli's government, the Himalayan country is set for an election campaign with an unprecedented mix of old parties and young candidates seeking radical change. Former King Gyanendra is also running with a pro-monarchist party, presenting himself as a guarantor of stability.
