
Nepal votes on Thursday for a new parliament in a high-stakes showdown between an entrenched old guard and a powerful youth movement, six months after deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government. Key figures contesting for power include the Marxist former prime minister seeking a return to office, a rapper-turned-mayor bidding for the youth vote, and the newly elected leader of the powerful Nepali Congress party. “Nepalis have been waiting for change for so long, from one system to another,” said Nilanta Shakya, 60, a retired engineer, who was among the first to vote at a college in the capital, Kathmandu. “I hope there is a meaningful change this time,” she added. People stand in a queue outside a polling station as they wait for their turn to vote at a village, in Jhapa district, Nepal on March 5, 2026. — Reuters Nearly 19 million voters are choosing who replaces the interim government in place since the September 2025 uprising, in which at least 77 people were killed, and parliament and scores o...