In a hushed capital city still bearing the scars of last year’s Gen Z-led revolution, and across the country, Nepalis voted on Thursday for a new government to replace an old guard tainted by allegations of corruption, nepotism and political impunity.
“Everything is going to change because of today’s election,” said Barsha Shakya, 28, a banker casting her vote in the ancient heart of Kathmandu, the nation’s capital. “I hope that Gen Z will rise again and develop the country.”
Nepalis take their democracy seriously, turning out to vote in consistently high numbers. But since elections began nearly seven decades ago, no government in Nepal has completed its full five-year term. The country has been fractured by civil strife, ideological antagonism and ineffectual coalitions.
The elections on Thursday were the first since youth-led protests against graft and a ban on social media led to the unexpected overthrow of the government. Security forces killed 19 protesters, and in the ensuing chaos, dozens more died and thousands of buildings across the country were burned, including many of Nepal’s most revered government institutions.
After years of Nepali politics being dominated by a triumvirate of political parties, voters said they were eager for change. Profiting most during the exuberant campaigning was the Rastriya Swatantra Party, or R.S.P., which has Balendra Shah, a charismatic rapper turned Kathmandu mayor, as its political avatar. If the party wins the most seats in Parliament, he is likely to become Nepal’s next prime minister, at the age of 35.
Across the country, people said they were choosing “the bell,” the R.S.P.’s symbol. (Each party is represented on the ballot not by its name but by a symbol, such as a rooster, coconut or inkwell, for ease of recognition.)
Ang Lhamu Sherpa, 79, gave birth to 12 children. She has 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Born in the Himalayan foothills, Ms. Sherpa never received any schooling.
“I voted for the bell,” she said, as she exited a polling station in Kathmandu near a giant Buddhist stupa. “The old leaders did nothing for the country. I have hope for our young leaders.”
The R.S.P. is running nine Gen Z candidates, including Sasmit Pokharel, 29, a onetime aide to Mr. Shah, who stepped down as mayor in January to run for Parliament. Educated partly in the United States, Mr. Pokharel is steeped in city planning and educational policy.
“The old leaders have proven themselves incompetent and arrogant,” he said. “We need fresh voices.”
Nepal came to a virtual halt on election day. No one without special permission is allowed to travel in a vehicle for security reasons, so people must walk — or bike or ride on horseback or oxen cart — to polling stations. Devoid of cars, buses, auto rickshaws and motorcycles, the normally frenetic and polluted capital boasted blue skies and empty avenues. Children roller-bladed and played cricket. Dogs snoozed in the middle of the street.
In Mustang District, on Nepal’s northern flank with China, nearly half of the electorate had cast their votes by noon, according to the Election Commission. The voter rolls in this sparsely populated stretch of high plateau listed 4,852 people.
Earlier votes have been marred by violence, especially during Nepal’s decade-long Maoist insurgency, which ended in 2006. Across the country, about 335,000 security forces have been mobilized to protect the election, and columns of soldiers holding rifles, finger on the triggers, patrolled Kathmandu.
There were isolated outbreaks of hostility. In Dolakha District in central Nepal, a dispute between representatives of three political parties briefly halted voting, and the police fired warning shots. Near the southern border with India, voting at a polling station in the constituency where the head of Nepal’s oldest political party, Nepali Congress, is running also stopped for a couple hours because of similar scuffles.
No matter who leads the new government, Nepal’s problems transcend a single electoral cycle. Corruption is entrenched. The wealth gap yawns. With few economic prospects at home, roughly three million Nepalis are working abroad, often enduring abusive contracts that turn them into indentured laborers.
On the eve of the election, Kamal Rawal, 23, embraced his tearful family as he prepared to board a flight to South Korea, where he is studying and working at a barbecue restaurant. Wrapped around his shoulders was Nepal’s distinctive flag with double triangles.
“I wanted to vote,” he said, “but I have to go away.”
Raj Thakuri, 28, is studying for the nation’s civil service exam, dreaming of a stable job in government administration. Growing up in western Nepal, he remembers how he had to write his schoolwork in the dirt because of a lack of paper. Even today, there is no road to his village. A day before the elections, Mr. Thakuri joined other migrants in Kathmandu to play cricket in a dusty riverside park.
Although he is politically engaged and can rattle off the platforms of various candidates, Mr. Thakuri did not vote. Nepal has no absentee balloting, so millions of voters are effectively disenfranchised.
“Nothing will change with this election,” Mr. Thakuri said. “I am frustrated where my life is.”
Hannah Beech is a Times reporter based in Bangkok who has been covering Asia for more than 25 years. She focuses on in-depth and investigative stories.
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