Background
Nepal's snap general election on 5 March 2026 was called two years early after youth-led 'Gen Z' protests against corruption and a social media clampdown forced Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign in September 2025. Those protests saw dozens killed and more than a thousand injured in some of the most serious street unrest in decades, prompting the creation of an interim government tasked with preparing new polls and investigating abuses. ## Election outcome
Preliminary and near-final tallies indicate that the anti-establishment Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by rapper-turned-Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, has secured an outright majority in the 275-member House of Representatives, a rare single-party dominance in Nepal's mixed electoral system. The party's surge reflects deep public frustration with veteran formations such as the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML, which had dominated coalition politics since the federal constitution came into force. ## Why it matters
A strong RSP majority gives the new government unusual room to pursue anti-corruption, governance, and digital-rights reforms, but also concentrates power in a relatively inexperienced party that must navigate entrenched bureaucratic, security, and party networks. Managing expectations from mobilised young citizens while confronting slowing growth, fiscal pressures, and geopolitical competition will determine whether this electoral rupture leads to institutional renewal or fresh instability.