What Nepal’s voters most want in elections

Nepal is getting into full campaign mode for local elections only a little more than a month away, and political parties have started to provide tickets to candidates.

Nepal’s political parties are led by ageing leaders, many of them discredited because they have not addressed voters’ real concerns in the past. The parties need to know the priorities and concerns of Nepal’s youth who make up a large chunk of eligible voters.  

A new survey reveals that issues of health care, education, entrepreneurship, climate change, women and waste management are at the top of the list of what young voters want ahead of elections on 13 May. They will be voting for mayors, ward chairs and other local officials based on how much they feel the candidates can solve these problems.

This is proven in results of a nationwide public opinion survey by the Avni- Center for Sustainability (ACS) from 4-12 March among 415 participants aged 18 to 35 from diverse socio-economic and educational backgrounds.

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The poll is one of many that proves that Nepali youth are worried about their future, and the state of the country’s governance. It shows that they want to be active participants in resolving Nepal’s environmental and socio-economic issues since the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns began two years ago.

The Centre conducted online and offline surveys seeking to identify important issues for voters within different age groups in villages and cities. It has used data collected from the surveys to communicate the public sentiment to political parties, and engaged Nepali youth as local reporters to make voters at the local level aware about the issues ahead of elections.

Respondents were asked if they were registered to vote, were aware of who their elected officials were and what issues they wanted addressed during the upcoming elections.

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Almost all of the respondents were optimistic that they believed their vote would make a difference. As many as 79% of respondents confirmed that they would vote in the upcoming elections, with more than two-thirds of voters saying that they were willing to travel long distances to vote from their home districts. 

This shows that rather than being cynical about Nepal’s democracy, they see it as a way to bring change in the future. The response is a relatively high figure for political engagement compared to what young voters say elsewhere in South Asia and the world.

The survey also found that young voters are not particularly impressed by how their elected officials have performed in the last five years. Indeed, while more than 80% of respondents knew who their current mayors, municipality chairs, and ward chairs were, a large majority did not want to see the incumbents running for office again, and definitely not re-elected.  

Nepal’s young people seem to be focused on issues of day-to-day concern rather than the populist rhetoric, nationalism and religion that are often whipped up by the political parties.

Only less than 9% of participants answered that they will be voting for a political party, compared to two-thirds who preferred to vote for candidates rather than parties. This is agood sign that they will demand accountability from their local leaders.

The survey also attempted to explore matters important to young Nepali voters. Three-quarters of the respondents believed that climate change should be a political issue, and 60% wanted capable non-corrupt political leaders who would ensure jobs.  

Almost half of the respondents felt that the lack of quality education as well as a supportive environment for business and entrepreneurship should be addressed in the upcoming elections. Nearly 40% of the participants wanted to see candidates committed to addressing problems like violence against women, affordable healthcare, and proper waste management.

The survey also asked respondents about the future of Nepal as a country, to which 81% of respondents answered that while progress was being made, it was not happening fast enough.

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