The ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country in 2015 helped spur negotiations on the new constitution. In mid-September parliament finally approved the document, which took effect on September 20 and established Nepal as a secular federal-style republic. Promulgation of the constitution elicited violent protests by some minority groups, especially Madhesis in the southern part of the country, whose members claimed that their rights were not being adequately protected. In mid-October parliament elected Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli as prime minister, succeeding Koirala, and at the end of the month the legislators chose a woman, Bidhya Devi Bhandari, as the country’s new president. Oli resigned in July 2016, after his government coalition collapsed and before he was to face a confidence vote. Prachanda replaced him after striking a power-sharing deal with the NC. In May 2017 Prachanda resigned so that Deuba could take on the premiership until parliamentary elections could be held.
The year 2017 was marked by Nepal’s first successful set of elections nationwide in two decades. Elections for more than 750 local councils were held across the nation beginning in May, with a turnout of nearly three-fourths of eligible voters. National elections were held later in the year, and results showed a resounding victory for a communist coalition backed by both Oli and Prachanda. After the two former prime ministers reached a power-sharing agreement, their two parties, CPN (UML) and UCPN (M) respectively, merged into a single party in May 2018: the Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
Under the power-sharing agreement, Oli became prime minister with the expectation that Prachanda would take over the post halfway through the five-year term. In November 2019 a new agreement, intended to address a dispute over the implementation of the original agreement, made Prachanda the executive chairman of the NCP and allowed Oli to finish out the full term as prime minister. Prachanda claimed that this new agreement was also improperly implemented, and he insisted that Oli observe the original agreement by relinquishing the office of prime minister halfway through his term. Oli refused, and in December 2020 he recommended that the president dissolve parliament and call early elections, a move ruled unconstitutional in February 2021 because no attempt was made to form a new government. Parliament was reinstated in March, and in May Oli lost a vote of confidence. After weeks of deliberation on the formation of a new government, Oli claimed that a new government could not be formed, and again he recommended that the president dissolve parliament and call early elections. In July, however, the dissolution was rejected by the Supreme Court, which ruled that Deuba, then leader of the opposition, should be given the opportunity to form a government.
The most lively debates in the following year centered on parliament’s ratification of a 2017 compact with the Millennial Challenge Corporation (MCC), a foreign assistance program established by the United States Congress in 2004. With the compact due to expire in February 2022 without ratification, parliament was under pressure to approve the agreement despite significant opposition domestically. After years in the fray between the hegemonic ambitions of India and China, as well as decades of distrust in the United States in particular, many Nepalis were wary of their government granting contracts for U.S. investment. The compact was ratified in February 2022 nonetheless. Parliament passed a declaration emphasizing its interpretation of the agreement as limited by Nepali sovereignty, although that declaration alone could not placate the people’s concerns.
When local elections were held in May 2022, voters registered their distrust in the political establishment. Although the ruling coalition received the greatest number of electoral victories, the success of independent candidates in major races indicated frustration with the country’s major political players.
In September 2025 Nepal faced its most serious political crisis since the end of the monarchy, with what came to be known as the Nepalese Gen Z protests. The unrest followed the government’s blanket ban on 26 social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube. Officials cited regulatory noncompliance, but many saw the move as an effort to silence dissent. For a younger generation already disillusioned by high unemployment and limited opportunities, the ban proved to be a breaking point, and thousands took to the streets of Kathmandu and other cities.
Clashes between protesters and security forces on September 8–9 left 51 people dead and more than 1,300 injured by the end of the week. Government offices, police stations, and the homes of senior politicians were set ablaze; among those targeted were the residences of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and former prime minister Jhalanath Khanal, whose wife suffered severe burn injuries. Although the ban was lifted and Oli resigned on September 9, turmoil continued until the army imposed a nationwide curfew on September 10. The curfew restored a tense calm but only after the near-total collapse of civilian governance, leaving the army as the country’s last stable institution capable of negotiating with protest leaders and conferring legitimacy on any new government.
In an ironic turn of events, the very medium the government had tried to suppress—social media—became the primary forum for debating the country’s future. More than 145,000 citizens joined a Discord server that reporters dubbed a new “national convention,” with participants describing the platform as effectively replacing parliament. By September 10 the group had rallied around Sushila Karki, Nepal’s first female chief justice, as their choice for interim prime minister. After consultations with the army, the decision was relayed to the president’s office, and Karki was sworn in on September 12 as the country’s first woman leader.
Karki soon formed a cabinet, consolidated her position, and set about initiating measures to address the damage caused by the protests. In March 2026, parliamentary elections were held in which Kathmandu mayor Balendra (“Balen”) Shah—a popular figure among younger voters—led his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) to secure a large majority of parliamentary seats. The RSP’s victory over the traditional parties that had dominated Nepalese politics for decades signaled a major shift toward a younger generation of political leadership. Karki stepped down following the election, and Shah was sworn in as prime minister shortly thereafter.