Assessing the election results

Experiments with coalition governments have been marred by corruption scandals.

Our general elections took place at a time of great turmoil in the international arena. The Covid-19 pandemic, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, bitter rivalry between China and the United States—all have cast a long shadow over South Asia. The world is coping with geopolitical tensions, economic slowdown, rising unemployment and skyrocketing food and energy prices. Nepal too is suffering from rising inflation, liquidity crunch, unemployment, loss of tourism revenue and public frustration over poor state response. In this context, the general election was timely because it channelised people’s anger and frustration in a democratic way, thus preventing it from exploding into street demonstrations, as is happening in many countries.