Study Finds Political Parties Underrepresented Gen Z Candidates in Federal Elections Post-Gen Z Movement

A study has revealed that political parties have not prioritized the Gen Z generation in the House of Representatives elections being held following the Gen Z movement.

The study indicated that various parties did not give much importance to the Gen Z age group when nominating candidates for both first-past-the-post and proportional representation in the election scheduled for February 21.

According to a study conducted by the Nepal Madhes Foundation (NEMAF), older parties, more so than newer ones, have not prioritized the Gen Z age group.

In the proportional representation category, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) gave more space to the Gen Z generation than other parties. RSP has 13 candidates from the Gen Z group, while Dr. CK Raut-led Janamat Party and Hark Sampang-led Shram Sanskriti Party have nominated seven candidates each.

Resham Chaudhary-backed Nagarik Unmukti Party Nepal and Rajendra Lingden-led Rastriya Prajatantra Party have nominated two Gen Z candidates each in the proportional representation. KP Sharma Oli-led CPN-UML has not included a single candidate from the Gen Z generation. Gagan Thapa-led Nepali Congress, Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'-led Communist Party of Nepal, and Upendra Yadav-led Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal have nominated one candidate each.

There are a total of 34 candidates from the Gen Z generation across these 9 parties. In the parties' proportional representation candidates, older candidates are more numerous than Gen Z and youth group members.

In the first-past-the-post category, Ujyalo Party, chaired by Kulman Ghising, gave the most representation to the Gen Z generation. Among the candidates nominated for first-past-the-post, seven percent of candidates are of Gen Z age. RSP and Janamat Party gave space to five percent of candidates from the Gen Z group each. Shram Sanskriti Party nominated three percent, and RPP nominated two percent. CPN (UML), Nepali Congress, and Janata Samajbadi Party Nepal did not nominate candidates from the Gen Z age group in the first-past-the-post category.

NEMAF concluded that the candidate selection process showed generational, gender, and ethnic imbalances. Although some signs of improvement are visible in the election following the Gen Z movement, transformative change is not expected. Representation of youth, women, and especially the Dalit community in both the first-past-the-post and proportional representation systems is structurally limited.

NEMAF concluded that democratic legitimacy depends not only on competition but also on fair representation, and the current structure is far from inclusive democratic goals.