From burning parliament to forced resignation, the Generation Z revolt reshapes Kathmandu

Oli’s last catwalk in China

KP Sharma Oli’s last public image was in Tianjin, China, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. Cordial with Vladimir Putin, smiling beside the Chinese delegates, the outgoing premier showed the geopolitical direction he had chosen for Nepal: more Beijing and Moscow, less India and the West. It is a rather unstable balance that has ended up fuelling internal mistrust, especially among the young and urban segments who see in the excessive dependence on Beijing a risk of interference and loss of sovereignty. On the other hand, the Nepalese people are fully aware of the aims of Beijing, expert and master of the so-called ‘debt trap’ technique, which is then able to exploit to its advantage the disastrous economic situation in which the latter leaves the country.

The digital spark, young people rebel

Let’s start here, with the ban on social. When Oli imposed restrictions on social media – from Facebook to YouTube to X – it set off a real spark. The so-called ‘Gen Z of Nepal’ immediately found digital refuges on Discord, Instagram and TikTok, turning entertainment platforms into tools of political organisation.

Within a few weeks, the squares filled up, and the virtual protest became real: marches, assaults on government buildings and symbols of power on fire. The Singha Durbar, seat of government and parliament, was stormed and burnt, as were the residences of several ministers. On X and various social channels, videos circulated of various ministers allegedly being beaten in the streets as they tried to escape the riots. A revolt that took on the tones of a generational rebellion against a system perceived as deeply corrupt and distant from the needs of the people.

Not to mention that Nepal has a youth unemployment rate of over 20%, where young people are increasingly seeking ways to emigrate, even accepting to become fodder for Putin’s brutal and ruthless invasion of Ukraine. For the Nepalese, escape was seen as the only salvation from an uncertain and dark fate, abandoned by a leadership that had become the hub and intersection of the two autocracies, China and Russia. There was also frustration over systemic corruption and limited transparency, and one can understand why slogans against the ‘nepo kids’ (the children of powerful politicians who enjoy privileges) have exploded on Nepali social media in recent weeks.

The political price and forced resignation

Violence and chaos forced Sharma Oli to resign. Images of the devastated parliament and clashes between protesters and police marked the point of no return. The presidency, led by Ram Chandra Poudel, dissolved parliament and appointed Sushila Karki, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as head of an interim government to lead the country to new elections. Karki has assured that his mandate will not go beyond the essentials: restoring stability and organising early elections, already set for March. But Karki’s appointment took place in a decidedly unique and particular context. What has been created, after the ban imposed by Oli, has given rise to a new way of understanding and doing politics: the popular app used by gamers Discord has become home and safe place for the people of Nepal to do politics. It involves, however, an NGO, which, in a short time, has gathered so many supporters of this revolution. But what is it all about?

The ‘digital parliament’ on Discord

A central role in this revolution has been played by Hami Nepal, an NGO that has turned its chat on Discord into a national political arena. The platform, created for gamers, has become the country’s virtual agora: more than 150,000 members discuss the political future on a daily basis, with such an impact that even the Nepalese army has started to consult the chat administrators as official interlocutors. Chaotic, crowded with trolls and onlookers, the discussions did not, however, prevent the activists from converging on the name of Sushila Karki, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was then actually chosen as interim premier. “Nepal’s parliament is now on Discord,” commented one activist, and it is no coincidence that some local media broadcast the chat conversations live. However, a strong unknown remains: will this digital experience be able to turn into a lasting political structure or will it remain an ephemeral experiment of the youth revolt?

Fractures in the Communist Front

Oli’s collapse not only affects the square and the façade, but also the domestic political scene. His distance from Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), also a former Maoist leader, has become irremediable. Oli chose the path of a strongly China-oriented Nepal, while Dahal maintained more pragmatic ties with India. The result was a Communist party split and unable to represent a united front, just when the population was demanding strong answers on unemployment, corruption and civil liberties.

And almost twenty years after the end of the Maoist civil war (1996-2006), with the fall of the monarchy and the signing of the Peace Accord that established the Republic, these protests seem to have become an extension of the same tensions of the time: socio-economic inequalities, marginalisation of rural areas, frustration at promises of peace that have not brought prosperity. Nepal’s constitution was born as a promise of a new deal, but for many young people it remained a dead letter at the start. Expectations of development, autonomy and justice have been betrayed by alternating ruling elites and the persistence of cronyism.

Future Scenarios

Nepal now finds itself increasingly in the balance. The March elections may open a new chapter, but the risk of new tensions remains very high. And those protests from what the press has labelled ‘Generation Z’ have shown that they do not want to turn back and are ready to demand radical change, with digital tools that bypass the old political channels.

On the foreign front, there remains the unknown factor of geopolitical positioning: how far Nepal will be willing to maintain close ties with Beijing and Moscow, and how far it will now seek to rebalance its relationship with India and the West. Meanwhile, the Nepalese people have sent a very strong signal to the world. Autocracies are bound to come to an end sooner or later.

And since Sharma Oli’s handshake with Putin in Tianjin, things have since changed profoundly, and who knows, the Russian dictator may be the next to fall.