'We voted for you, now do your job': Nepal’s Gen Z warn new leaders KATHMANDU: For many young Nepalis, Friday’s historic verdict came with a clear call for the Himalayan country’s new leaders: “We voted for you. Now get to work.” In Kathmandu, there were no dhols or gulal left over from Holi to be sprayed in celebration. The city moved in its usual rhythm even as the scale of Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP)’s sweep became clear. The generation that drove the Sept 2025 uprising and forced a snap election said the “old parties had been punished,” but the deeper issues that brought them onto the streets—corruption, unemployment, weak public services, nepotism, political impunity, and the lack of opportunities—remained unresolved. With 35-year-old Balen Shah set to become prime minister, many young voters and protest leaders said the mandate would mean little unless it translated into visible change. Amrita Ban, 23, one of the Gen Z activists at the forefront of the Sept protests, said the new leadership could not afford to repeat the old parties’ habit of selling “false hope and false promises of turning Nepal into Switzerland.” She said: “The old leadership failed because it did not deliver. The new ones have to prove themselves through action and delivery. We’re watching.” For Ban, the first test would not be grand speeches or symbolic gestures, but whether people began to feel change in everyday life. “What we are asking for is basic—an environment to live in our own country. Fix corruption, healthcare, and education.” Niraj Adhikari, 28, a construction supervisor who returned from Qatar just in time to vote, narrowly avoiding the flight disruptions caused by the war in West Asia, said the result would matter only if it slowed outward migration. “It is now our duty to build this nation.#rastriya_swatantra_party #balen_shah #amrita_ban #niraj_adhikari #majid_ansari
