Kathmandu: Several young and energetic leaders have won the parliamentary elections with promises of reforms. Forty percent of the candidates vying for seats in parliament were ages 21-40.
Victory of Gagan Thapa from Kathmandu-4, Shishir Khanal from Kathmandu-6,Sobita Gautam from Kathmandu-4 and Dr Toshima Karki from Lalitpur-3 has raised new hopes among the youths. Though they failed to secure victory, independent candidates rose to challenge old and powerful leaders–Sagar Dhakal fought against Sher Bahadur Deuba and Rahul Kumar Mishra against Madhav Kumar Nepal.
This change, no doubt, looks promising and has given the country new hope. But what do the young citizens feel about it? What do they expect from the young leaders? Nepal Live Today reached out to young people with these questions.
Ashutosh Jha, 20, expects youth leaders to bring fresh and new ideas and energy into politics. A voter from Kathmandu Metropolitan City-14, he believes that is what is exactly lacking in Nepali politics.
Prayash Pandey, 22, says new leaders should ensure inclusion in the decision making process. “Better communication and public relations with all-inclusive decision making while doing government work is necessary”, he said. He hopes that the young leaders can bring new and progressive ideas while maintaining full transparency. “Youth involvement doesn’t automatically change anything, this is just a case of each individual holding the position being better than others.” He has a lot of expectations, not only from young political leaders but also from the younger generation. “Try and be a better human being than you were yesterday”, he said.
Nikesh Mahat, 22, from Godawari, expects young leaders not to be corrupt but to be transparent and accountable.“Their major concern should be the country’s betterment rather than power politics”, Tapsya Singh Thakuri, 22, from Kathmandu said. She wants to see development and positive changes under the watch of new leaders.
Sumika Acharya, 21, from Palpa, says that the leaders should prove themselves by working as per the aspirations of the young voters. “They brought new hope and trust among the citizens who voted. I expect them to uphold that trust without getting involved in dirty politics and to eradicate all the corrupt bugs as well as work to improve the weak education system of this country while simultaneously motivating the younger generation,” said Acharya.
The young voters we talked to have a hope from the youth leaders and new faces. Their rise in politics has certainly brought a breath of fresh air within the country. But many still fear that history of bad politics might be repeated.
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