Hisila Yami is a former minister of Nepal.
Every major technological transformation reshapes society and politics. The steam engine dismantled feudalism and laid the basis for industrial activities. Electricity strengthened corporate power, the modern state, and mass political parties based on class.
Computers reorganized labor, shrinking industrial work while expanding the managerial, expert middle class. Today, digital technology enhanced by artificial intelligence has once again transformed productive forces to the scale and speed where mankind feels threatened by its own innovation. And the biggest victims are the political leaders and parties who are the vehicle of production relation. Unable to compete with the pace and complexity of digital change they are finding comfort in populism instead of rising above liberalism and communism to embark upon a new form of humanism based on science, technology and empathy.
This widening gap between technological acceleration and political stagnation has produced contradictions across the globe. One visible outcome is the surge of youth-led movements: restless, rudderless, and rapturous. Nepal, despite its economic fragility and geographic isolation, has become part of this global moment. The Gen Z movement in Nepal is not an isolated eruption; it is a generational response to a political system unable to deliver dignity, opportunity, or trust.
Nepal in the Digital Age
Nepal is frequently described as politically unstable, yet it is also intensely political. Almost every decade has witnessed movements on political agendas. Nepal is often labelled as “least intelligent” country. Yet smartphone penetration and internet usage are remarkably high. Young Nepalese today possess global information at their fingertips, however, they are stunted because there are no job opportunities accompanied by rampant institutional corruption.
Nepal’s Gen Z movement emerged as part of a global generational wave, followed after nearly forty similar movements worldwide. What makes Nepal’s case distinctive is its impact. In weeks, it achieved what decades of party politics and even the ten-year People’s War could not: it challenged and toppled the Grand Old Parties including the Maoist Party, questioning their modus operandi. More than that, it brought an increasingly apolitical digital youth back into political engagement.
It has challenged traditional hierarchies of power, authority, and expertise. It has created latent space and forces of the scale unknown before. At its core, the movement demanded a shift from ideology-as-rhetoric to governance-as-delivery. It questioned the Nepali Congress’s claims of liberalism in the absence of industrial development. It criticized communists for failing to address extra-class issues. Corruption has been framed not as individual misconduct but as a systemic condition.
The movement was also a direct response to opportunistic alliances between ideologically opposed parties: liberals and communists alike who are united less by vision than by access to the state coffer. It held the Maoist party accountable not only for its past promises but for its present failure to act as a credible opposition.
This generation, nearly one-third of Nepal’s population, has demanded structural reform, professional governance, accountability, and a rethinking of separation of powers. The movement rejected patronage politics, dynastic leadership, and institutional politicization of education, health and employment opportunities. It insisted on merit, participation, and measurable outcomes. At the same time, the movement revealed its own contradictions. It was emotionally powerful but institutionally weak. Progressive, regressive, and directionless tendencies coexisted. At moments it appeared anti-party and anti-state, the way it destroyed all vital state institutions; at others, deeply reformist: seeking to restructure the state, political parties, and the economy.
Political Outcomes and the Road Ahead
Following nationwide protests in September 2025, a 10-point agreement was signed on 10 December between the Government of Nepal and Gen Z representatives. The agreement addresses structural discrimination based on gender, caste, ethnicity, and economic exclusion; reaffirms commitments to federalism, decentralization, good governance, and public participation; and calls for institutional reform. The Cabinet’s decision to publish the agreement in the Nepal Gazette gives it formal legal recognition.
It is to be noted that the present interim government under the leadership of Sushila Karki, the former chief justice of Nepal, with non-political ministers, has been tasked with overseeing elections and addressing excesses committed during the protests. The forthcoming election must not be treated as routine. It represents a moment to rethink governance, renew political parties, and restore public trust.
The Gen Z movement remains fragmented: progressive, regressive, and directionless tendencies coexist. Whether it can translate moral force into institutional power remains uncertain. Out of this ferment emerging new political figures like Ojaswee Bhattarai, Kulman Ghising, Harka Sampang, Balen Shah, Amit Khanal and Rakshya Bam are coming together to form a new party ecosystem.
Conclusion
Nepal today faces a Catch-22. On one side are governing parties ossified by process but emptied of ideology, driven by state capture rather than public purpose. On the other is an emerging political force: naïve and newly awakened to public life but lacking process, organizational clarity and policy-based leadership.
The Gen Z movement is a turning point in Nepal’s political life. It has unsettled fossilized party structures and leaderships, exposed systemic corruption, and drawn a digitally native generation back into public engagement. In a country long defined by political fatigue and outward migration, Gen Z is beginning to choose confrontation over mass migration.
Whether this energy translates into lasting institutional change will depend not only on Gen Z itself, but also big parties who need to acknowledge present reality and transform accordingly. Nepal’s ability to bridge the gap between digital modernity and political renewal is the key issue today.
The Tribune is committed to publishing a diversity of opinions. We’d like to hear from you. Send your articles to our email: opinion@merotribune.com.
Follow the Mero Tribune on Facebook and Twitter.
Advertisement
