Nepal’s election is referendum on its future and democracy in South Asia
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Nepal’s general election on March 5 is far more than a routine political event. It has become a crucial democratic test in a region where genuine democracy is in rapid retreat. Across South Asia, the outer forms of democracy, elections, parliaments, constitutions, still exist. Yet, in reality, democratic competition is shrinking, opposition voices are being silenced, institutions are weakening, and leaders are evading accountability.
In this grim regional context, Nepal’s election has taken on a significance that transcends its borders. It is a referendum not only on Nepal’s future but on whether democracy in South Asia can still feel authentic and alive.
This vote follows the massive Gen Z protests in September 2025, which shattered Nepal’s political status quo and forced the government to resign. This was not a traditional party movement or a violent revolution. It was a contemporary, digitally-powered uprising.
A young generation, fluent online and furious over corruption and elite impunity, rejected the notion that their democracy must remain stuck in a cycle of weak governance and recycled leaders. The protests were chaotic and economically disruptive, but their core demand was fundamentally democratic, which were accountability, transparency, real representation, and an end to politics as a family inheritance.
This is precisely why the 2026 election...