{"id":38672,"date":"2025-12-28T12:49:50","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T07:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/?p=38672"},"modified":"2025-12-28T12:54:36","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T07:09:36","slug":"new-alliance-vows-to-address-youth-demands-in-nepal-polls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/new-alliance-vows-to-address-youth-demands-in-nepal-polls\/","title":{"rendered":"New alliance vows to address youth demands in Nepal polls"},"content":{"rendered":"
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KATHMANDU, Dec 28 : Two of Nepal’s most popular political leaders united Sunday to forge a new alliance ahead of next year’s election, a move that is likely to challenge the long-dominant traditional parties.<\/p>\n

Television host Rabi Lamichhane, the 51-year-old chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah pledged to address the demands of the younger generation following September’s deadly anti-corruption protests that ousted the government.<\/p>\n

Swarnim Wagle, vice-chairman of RSP, called the alliance a “rare combination of courage, sacrifice and hope” for the country as it gears up for the March 5 election.<\/p>\n

“The new generation leaders have united by putting nation above self, in tune with the aspirations of the youth of Nepal,” Wagle told AFP.<\/p>\n

At least 77 people were killed during the September 8-9 youth-led uprising that was triggered by anger over a brief government ban on social media, building on public frustration after years of economic stagnation and allegations of entrenched political corruption.<\/p>\n

According to the agreement, Lamichhane will remain the party’s chairman, while rapper-turned-mayor Shah, 35, will be the candidate for prime minister.<\/p>\n

“Consensus should not be as the leader seeks, it should be what the country needs,” Lamichhane said in a statement on social media after the deal was signed.<\/p>\n

Lamichhane, who was recently released on bail in connection with cooperative fraud and organised crime, is a popular television host in the Himalayan republic.<\/p>\n

He set up the RSP in 2022, tapping into widespread discontent at Nepal’s elderly political leadership and becoming the deputy premier and interior minister.<\/p>\n

Shah, popularly known as “Balen”, is seen as a popular figure in the political transition and helped form the interim government led by Sushila Karki after the ousting of K.P. Sharma Oli’s government.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Karki held meetings with Oli, Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba and Nepali Communist Party coordinator Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the first such consultation since the uprising.<\/p>\n

After the meeting, Karki wrote on social media that the election was a shared responsibility of all stakeholders.<\/p>\n

“The government is committed to guaranteeing a free and fear-free environment. We are working in a manner that leaves no room for doubt,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KATHMANDU, Dec 28 : Two of Nepal’s most popular political leaders united Sunday to forge a new alliance ahead of next year’s election, a move that is likely to challenge the long-dominant traditional parties. Television host Rabi Lamichhane, the 51-year-old chairperson of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), and Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah pledged to address […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38654,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-news","category-national","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38672"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38672"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38675,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38672\/revisions\/38675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nepalsamaj.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}