A year on after Nepal’s Gen Z protests, have new leaders forgotten their reform pledges?

Nepal’s Gen Z uprising began with a ban on 26 social media platforms, but the anger it unleashed reached far beyond digital freedom. The leaderless protests challenged corruption, nepotism and political impunity, demanding institutional integrity, transparency, the rule of law and a change in leadership. The cost was devastating: 76 people died and more than 2,600 were injured.

A year later, the leaders who rose on the promise of reform are facing accusations that they have reproduced the old system. The interim government led by Sushila Karki held elections, but the article says its appointments repeated patterns of nepotism. The Rastriya Swatantra Party’s landslide win in the March snap polls then brought Balendra Shah to power, generating considerable public hope.

The new administration initially moved aggressively. It implemented the Gauri Bahadur Karki commission report and arrested former prime minister KP Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak. Both were soon released under habeas corpus, with formal charges still pending. The article presents this as part of a broader pattern in which speed and decisive action bypass due process before ending in routine bail.

The same gap between promises and practice appears elsewhere. Policies have been announced on Facebook before Cabinet or legislative clearance, while the prime minister rarely addresses parliament. An independent review found that only 38 of the government’s first 100 commitments had been implemented. Appointments to bodies including the Bagmati Civilisation Committee, Nepal Scouts and Tribhuvan University have drawn criticism, while forceful squatter clearances along Kathmandu’s riverbanks allegedly ignored consultation and due process.

The government has also concentrated authority in Kathmandu, raising questions about its commitment to federalism. Civil service restructuring risks bureaucratic paralysis, and the administration has kept its distance from the press and independent critics. For the article, the clearest failure concerns injured protesters, some of whom face mounting debts, inadequate allowances and public scorn while the new leadership moves on.