What to Know About Nepal's Gen Z Election

Asia Pacific|Gen Z Voters in Nepal Pin Their Hopes on a Millennial Rapper

Nepalis will vote for a new government on Thursday, the first election since a Gen Z revolution in September turned the Himalayan nation into a surprise symbol of youthful power.

Voter expectations feel as lofty as the mountains that dominate the landscape, even if previous elections have delivered a revolving door of coalition governments. This time around, a onetime rapper has electrified the electorate, with hopes that he can vanquish establishment rivals, like the prime minister ousted by the Gen Z movement.

For years, the country has been so stymied by corruption and political patronage that each year hundreds of thousands of Nepalis feel they have no choice but to go overseas for work. Many people want fairer opportunities at home and accountability for the deadly crackdown on the Gen Z protests, which was followed by a mass arson campaign that destroyed thousands of buildings nationwide.

“This election will decide whether my 4-year-old son will live in Nepal or migrate to another country,” said Biki Shrestha, a finance manager at an I.T. company. “We need change.”

Who is the Gen Z candidate?

Ask young Nepalis who excites them and the answer is likely to be one word: Balen.

At 35, Balendra Shah, the former mayor of Kathmandu, the capital, is not quite Gen Z. But the millennial rapper, who tamed the city’s trash crisis, is considered the change candidate.

Mr. Shah — who rarely appears in public without black sunglasses, a black suit and a corps of social media chroniclers who try to offset his volatile posts blasting his political rivals and foreign powers — has pitched himself as the next prime minister of Nepal. He is running in the same eastern Nepal constituency as K.P. Sharma Oli, the prime minister ousted by the Gen Z movement after the deaths of 19 protesters.