Nepal finds itself at yet another crossroads. With elections now set for March 5, 2026, the Himalayan republic, squeezed between the geopolitical ambitions of India and China, faces a monumental test. Its caretaker prime minister, Sushila Karki, has promised free and fair polls. Still, beneath the surface of assurance lies a deeper uncertainty about the country’s political future, its collapsing economy, and a restless generation that has lost faith in politics altogether.

Karki’s elevation last month, following the removal of K.P. Sharma Oli amid youth-led protests, was welcomed. At 73, she is Nepal’s first female prime minister, a figure of integrity with a judicial background and little appetite for populist gamesmanship. But her mandate is narrow: preserve stability and rebuild the political institution by holding elections.

The biggest challenge before Karki’s interim administration is survival as the caretaker structure. It limits the interim government’s authority to introduce major policy changes, as the fractured political system and role of old political parties are bent on pulling down the system. Yet the public’s expectations are as high as the mountains of the Himalayas. The Gen Z movement, which toppled Oli’s government after weeks of street protests, has transformed political discourse. Its demands, ranging from the right to digital freedom to an overhaul of the corruption-ridden political class, reflect a generational impatience with Nepal’s old guard, but Gen Z leaders hardly know how to govern, yet are eager to bring the change.

Karki’s tone so far has been conciliatory. She is meeting leaders of nearly all major political parties, from the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML to the Rastriya Swatantra Party. She demands consensus on election preparations and anti-corruption measures. Most parties agreed on the need for timely elections. But beneath the formal politeness lies mistrust. Nepal’s politics in the past have seen strange bedfellows and drifting coalitions. In........

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