By Sarah Caldwell
This month, Nepal saw its deadliest protests in recent history. The Parliament building, as well as hundreds of government offices, dozens of politicians’ homes, and several luxury hotels, were set ablaze in protests against decades of poor governance and exploitation of state resources.
Largely cited as ‘Gen Z’-led and carried out, the protests began over the widespread disapproval of viral, Nepalese ‘nepo babies’ on platforms such as TikTok. Gen Z’ers sparked an online discussion, which turned into a nationwide movement over the extreme wealth amassed by elected representatives and flaunted by their children.
Nepal – the second poorest country in South Asia,where one in three households receives remittances from family members overseas –has seen 14 different governments in its 17 years of democracy. Political instability, corruption, and exploitation have plagued the country since the end of the twelve-year-long, Maoist-led Civil War that killed 17,000 people.
On September 12, just days after the KP Sharma Oli Government was toppled, Sushila Karki, a former chief justice praised for her integrity, was chosen to be the country’s first female prime minister. The Gen Z movement, which was tokenized by the ‘Pirate Flag’ from Japanese anime One Piece, held the impromptu elections via the chat-room Discord, where 145,000 members voted in multiple rounds of polls. “The Parliament of Nepal right now is Discord”, 23-year-old content creator Sid Ghimiri told the New York Times as the voting progressed over the weekend.
It is thus far unclear how the country will pay for an estimated 3 trillion Nepalese rupees (nearly half of Nepal’s entire GDP) worth of damage to government buildings, but Sushila Karki has since announced that free and fair elections will be held on March 5, 2026, for the people to decide the country’s future.
“We are no longer willing to stay silent or accept injustice,” Ms Pandey, a Gen Z protester, told the BBC. “This is not just a gentle nudge; it’s a bold challenge to a system that has hoarded power for decades.”
Similar ‘bold challenges’ were made in fellow South Asian countries like Sri Lanka in 2022 and Bangladesh in 2024, speaking to the power of youth and social media in making effective change toward a more equitable region.
Also in September…
Palestine: This month, the United Kingdom and France both formally recognized the state of Palestine in demonstrations of support for peace in the region. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the recognition of Palestinian statehood is essential to “Keep alive the possibility of peace.” At the United Nations 80th anniversary meeting in late September, French President Emmanuel Macron echoed similar sentiments, projecting a unified French stance despite the recent change in Prime Minister and the fact that a new government has yet to be formed.
Additionally, in late September: Italian Union workers shut down the country calling for an end to the war, Spain and Italy sent ships to aid the Gaza Sumud Flotilla, and a left- wing political party in Germany, Die Linke, helped in part to organize a large-scale pro-Palestine protest for the first time, further evidencing the changing tide from the West towards a free Palestine.
Bolivia: After 20 years in power, Bolivia’s historically celebrated leftist party, Movimiento Socialismo, won just 3% of the vote in August elections, falling behind both its centre-right and far-right opponents. The party’s shocking fall from grace can largely be attributed to division amongst its leaders, political ‘wear and tear’, and an economic and social crisis that has reached levels unseen since Movimiento Socialismo came to power in 2005. A run-off election will take place in October between the two leading candidates, previously unheard-of centre-right Senator Rodrigo Paz Pereira and former-president and opposition leader Jorge Quiroga.
Norway: Incumbent Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Jonas Gahr Støre was narrowly re-elected in September, defeating the country’s increasingly popular far-right populist party. Since the last election in 2021, Sylvi Listhaug’s Progress Party has doubled its support and is now the second-largest party in the Storting, Norway’s parliament, trailing Labour by just five seats. The Labour Party, which has focused on achieving environmental targets and growing the country’s sovereign wealth fund, will likely continue in its second term as a minority government and non-EU member-state.
Indonesia: Widespread protests erupted across Indonesia in late August after 21-year-old Affan Kurniawan was struck and killed by a paramilitary police vehicle while working as a motorcycle ride-share driver. The incident was a catalyst for growing resentment against President and ex-general Prabowo Subianto’s elitist economic policy and overuse of military force in civilian life. Subianto made minor concessions during the protest’s peak in mid-September, but has since doubled down on his plan to grow the country’s economy – a plan that still does not, however, address the low-wage issue or heightening unemployment.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and may not reflect the opinions of The St Andrews Economist.
Image Credit: The Quint