Nepal registers 125 parties for post-uprising polls

The final list, including the exact number of new parties and those associated with youth groups, will be released after the Nov 18 deadline. (AFP pic)

KATHMANDU: Nepal’s Election Commission said today that 125 political parties had registered to contest the first parliamentary polls since a mass uprising in September ousted the government.

Many are established parties, but some of the movements vying for seats in the March 2026 vote were formed by youth activists who helped launch the anti-corruption protests that shook the country earlier this year.

“We are working with a belief that all political parties and citizens are eager to bring a new leadership to the country through the election,” commission spokesman Narayan Prasad Bhattarai told AFP.

Registration remains open for another two weeks.

The final list, including the exact number of new parties and those associated with youth groups, will be released after the Nov 18 deadline.

The September protests, triggered by a brief ban on social media, quickly morphed into a nationwide movement against economic hardship and government corruption.

Two days of violent unrest killed at least 73 people, and saw parliament, courts and government buildings set ablaze.

In the aftermath, former chief justice Sushila Karki, 73, was appointed interim prime minister to guide the Himalayan nation until elections.

Nepal’s political future remains uncertain, with deep public distrust of established parties posing a major challenge to holding credible elections.

However, Bhattarai insisted the commission was determined to “conduct the election in a peaceful, impartial, and fear-free environment”.

Karki on Oct 29 held the first talks between political parties and youth representatives since the protests, attended by all major political parties including that of ousted premier KP Sharma Oli.

The unrest further weakened Nepal’s already fragile economy, with the World Bank warning in October that “heightened political and economic uncertainty are expected to cause growth to decline” to 2.1%.

The bank estimates a “staggering” 82% of Nepal’s workforce is in informal employment, with GDP per capita at US$1,447 in 2024.