Gen Z voters in Nepal are placing their hopes on a millennial rapper

Nepalese will vote this Thursday for a new government in the first elections since a Generation Z revolution in September transformed the Himalayan nation into a surprising symbol of youthful power.

Voter expectations are as high as the mountains that dominate the landscape, even though previous elections resulted in a string of coalition governments. This time, a former rapper has electrified the electorate, hoping to defeat establishment rivals, including the prime minister ousted by the Generation Z movement. For years, the country has been so crippled by corruption and political cronyism that each year hundreds of thousands of Nepalese feel they have no choice. Many want fairer opportunities at home and accountability for the deadly crackdown on Generation Z protests, which was followed by a massive arson campaign that destroyed thousands of buildings across the country.

"These elections will decide whether my 4-year-old son lives in Nepal or emigrates to another country," says Biki Shrestha, finance manager at an IT company. "We need a change."

Who is the Generation Z candidate?

Ask young Nepalese people who excites them, and the answer will likely be a single word: Balen. At 35, Balendra Shah, the former mayor of Kathmandu, the capital, isn't exactly Gen Z. But the millennial rapper, who brought the city's garbage crisis under control, is hailed as the candidate of change. Shah—who rarely appears in public without dark sunglasses, a black dress, and a corps of social media chroniclers trying to counter his volatile posts, which are criticized by political rivals and foreign powers—has positioned himself as Nepal's next prime minister. "For many years, we've seen the same political parties, and nothing has changed in Nepal," says Sujan Sipai, a teacher in the ancient city of Bhaktapur. "That's why this time the whole country has risen up against corruption and in favor of Balen."

Although Shah ran for mayor as an independent, in this election he has lent his charisma to the Independent National Party (RSP), a young political force that presents itself as clean, technocratic, and digitally adept. The RSP is fielding nine Generation Z candidates, several of whom were Shah's aides.

Electoral System

Each party or independent candidate is represented on the ballot with a symbol to facilitate identification. The RSP uses a bell, the Marxist-Leninist communists a single symbol. Other symbols used by some of the sixty-five political parties running in the election include a kangaroo (not native to Nepal), a chicken, a stapler, a steering wheel, a cable car, and pliers. Voter turnout is usually high. But violence has also plagued the polls. Some 335,000 security personnel have been mobilized for the election, including nearly 150,000 special election police.

Although roughly 10% of Nepal's 30 million people live abroad and many more have moved to other parts of the country, there is no postal voting. Many Nepalis work in the Persian Gulf, and the closure of regional airports due to the Iran-Iraq War has hampered their chances of voting in person.

The party that wins the most votes on Thursday will likely not secure a meaningful majority. This will lead to a coalition government, a recipe for bargaining rather than fighting corruption and promoting political transparency.