{"id":14177,"date":"2025-10-17T20:11:56","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/?p=14177"},"modified":"2025-10-17T20:11:56","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T14:26:56","slug":"searching-for-the-third-path-in-the-march-5-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/searching-for-the-third-path-in-the-march-5-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Searching for the \u2018Third Path\u2019 in the March 5 Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kathmandu – The Gender and Sexual Minority (LGBTIQ+) community of Nepal has intensified preparations for the upcoming national election scheduled for 21 Falgun 2082 (March 5, 2026). Community members across the country are mobilizing door-to-door campaigns to ensure voter registration and to encourage broader participation among youth and marginalized citizens.<\/p>\n

Alongside voter registration drives, serious political and organizational discussions are taking place within the community concerning representation, engagement with political parties, and the future direction of the GenZ Movement \u2014 a youth-led citizens\u2019 movement that recently transformed Nepal\u2019s political landscape.<\/p>\n

Voter Registration and GenZ Activism<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the Election Commission\u2019s registration deadline approaching at the end of Kartik, LGBTIQ+ activists have launched a national campaign to reach unregistered eligible voters. Young people active in the GenZ movement are now channeling their collective energy toward electoral readiness.<\/p>\n

However, within the community, two divergent paths have emerged: some members advocate for representation through existing political parties, while others are calling for the creation of a distinct political platform or party to represent gender and sexual minorities directly.<\/p>\n

Representation in the GenZ Movement<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although the GenZ movement played a pivotal role in reshaping governance and accountability, many LGBTIQ+ members expressed disappointment that they have been excluded from the current government\u2019s decision-making processes, despite their active participation in the movement.<\/p>\n

During a recent National Consultation on \u201cPolitical Participation: Our Right\u201d, jointly organized by MayaKo Pahichan Nepal, Lead Nepal, and Inclusive Forum with the support of GiveOut, participants stressed the importance of ensuring genuine representation of gender and sexual minorities in all political and policy structures.<\/p>\n

Concerns About Election Feasibility<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Constituent Assembly Member and Executive Director of MayaKo Pahichan Nepal, Sunil Babu Pant, observed that while the new government may be viewed positively, the timely completion of the election remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cabinet is still incomplete, and there are multiple factions within the GenZ movement. It looks like chewing iron \u2014 extremely difficult to conduct the election as scheduled,\u201d Pant remarked.<\/p>\n

He further emphasized the need for a unified political structure representing all marginalized identities \u2014 Dalits, persons with disabilities, and gender and sexual minorities \u2014 to ensure that no community is left out of the nation\u2019s decision-making process.<\/p>\n

Foreign Aid, Corruption, and Accountability<\/strong><\/p>\n

Participants criticized the corruption and centralization observed in large NGOs, which often overshadow smaller, community-based organizations. They urged both the government and donors not to generalize or stigmatize grassroots organizations because of the misconduct of a few.<\/p>\n

Pant noted that foreign aid has become \u201ca new extremism\u201d in Nepal\u2019s development discourse, stating: \u201cIf the state had supported marginalized communities adequately, they would not have been forced to depend on foreign funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Participants highlighted that the GenZ movement emerged as a response to entrenched corruption, inequality, and systemic neglect \u2014 calling out the culture where \u201cthe people remain poor while the leaders grow rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

Technology and the Future of Democracy<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pant also stressed the need to make democracy technology-driven and people-centered, arguing that \u201cpower must lie in the hands of citizens, not above them.\u201d He urged greater investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital tools to strengthen transparency and participatory democracy.<\/p>\n

Voices from the Community<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

LGBTIQ+ activist Vivek Magar criticized the lack of direct representation of marginalized communities in the decision-making structures of the GenZ movement, emphasizing that true democratic practice must be selfless and inclusive.<\/p>\n

Nepal\u2019s first citizen to receive an \u201cOther\u201d passport, Monica Shahi, described the GenZ uprising as \u201cone of the most powerful civic movements in Nepal\u2019s history,\u201d while stressing the need for enhanced political literacy and media representation within the LGBTIQ+ community. She also advocated for forming a dedicated political party for gender and sexual minorities.<\/p>\n

Honey Maharjan, a transgender rights activist and former mayoral candidate for Kirtipur Municipality, noted that the community\u2019s participation in politics remains low due to limited training and leadership development opportunities, and even the total number of active members nationwide remains uncertain.<\/p>\n

A Critical Moment for Unity and Empowerment<\/strong><\/p>\n

Madhu KC, Vice President of MayaKo Pahichan Nepal, announced that a nationwide awareness and mobilization campaign has been launched to encourage LGBTIQ+ individuals to participate in politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are at a decisive turning point,\u201d KC stated. \u201cOur unity and participation in this election will define how effectively our rights are realized in Nepal\u2019s evolving democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Numa Limbu Chanchala, Executive Director of Lead Nepal, concluded that the LGBTIQ+ community stands at a historic crossroads of political empowerment.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom voter registration to electoral preparation, our community is actively engaged,\u201d she said. \u201cNow we must ensure that the message of participation and representation reaches every corner before the March 5 election.\u201d<\/p>\n

The consultation concluded that the GenZ movement must evolve into a more inclusive and institutionalized civic platform, ensuring proportional representation for gender and sexual minorities in the upcoming election and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kathmandu – The Gender and Sexual Minority (LGBTIQ+) community of Nepal has intensified preparations for the upcoming national election scheduled for 21 Falgun 2082 (March 5, 2026). Community members across the country are mobilizing door-to-door campaigns to ensure voter registration and to encourage broader participation among youth and marginalized citizens.
\nAlongside voter registration drives, serious political and organizational discussions are taking place within the community concerning representation, engagement with political parties, and the future direction of the GenZ Movement \u2014 a youth-led citizens\u2019 movement that recently transformed Nepal\u2019s political landscape.
\nVoter Registration …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":14178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,8,621,490,3,2065],"tags":[695,2254,1159,2076],"class_list":["post-14177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-issue","category-human-rights","category-news","category-slider","category-society","category-top-stories","tag-gender-and-sexual-minorities","tag-genz-movement","tag-lgbtiq","tag-mayako-pahichan-nepal"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14177"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14177\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14181,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14177\/revisions\/14181"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pahichan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}