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Even without the GenZ protests, a leadership shake-up within the Nepali Congress (NC) was inevitable. Owing to the two-term limit in the party’s statute, President Sher Bahadur Deuba is ineligible to seek another term. Like CPN-UML Chair KP Sharma Oli, Deuba showed no interest in amending the statute for his leadership continuity.

The protests, however, have accelerated the leadership transition inside the NC. In the first Central Working Committee meeting held after the GenZ demonstrations, Deuba announced his decision to step down from active party politics and named Vice-president Purna Bahadur Khadka as the acting party president. While Deuba may continue to wield influence until the general convention, he is unlikely to return to party leadership. Facing mounting pressure to resign after the protests, Deuba urged party leaders to convene the general convention as soon as possible. 

Having led the NC for nearly a decade (2015–2025), many believe the party has grown weaker under Deuba’s leadership. His cautious, consensus-driven politics often prioritized coalition management over party reform. He also neglected organizational strengthening, leaving many sister organizations and departments headless and inactive.

The NC suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2017 national elections, only to regain prominence in 2022 through an electoral alliance with the CPN (Maoist Center). 

Now with Deuba’s exit, the Central Working Committee has begun discussions on convening the party’s general convention. A group of leaders has submitted signatures from 53 percent of convention representatives demanding an early convention to elect new leadership. Debates are ongoing over whether to hold a regular or special convention, but either way, the timing is apt since the current leadership’s term is about to expire.

The key question now is: who will succeed Deuba? Several contenders are already preparing for the leadership race. General Secretary Gagan Kumar Thapa has publicly declared his candidacy, while senior leader Shekhar Koirala has confirmed he will also run. Within the Deuba camp, speculation is rife that acting president Khadka could contest, though it is unclear whether senior leaders from the faction will unite behind him. Other veterans, including Prakash Man Singh, Bimalendra Nidhi, and Shashank Koirala, are also said to be weighing their options.

The party is now divided over whether to organize a regular or special general convention. Leaders close to Deuba argue that a special convention would rely on old delegates and fail to capture the sentiments of GenZ. They insist that a regular convention would allow more young members to participate.

“We need to involve new members as well. The young generation (GenZ) should be given active membership, and the renewal process for old members must be finished too,” said NC Spokesperson Prakash Sharan Mahat. “We also need to conclude the convention process starting from the ward level. Because of that, some colleagues believe that there won’t be enough time to hold it in Mangsir (November–December).”

According to the Active Membership Management Committee, 81 percent of active memberships have been renewed as of mid-October, though data entry is still ongoing. So far, 60 districts have completed the renewal process.

Senior leader Shekhar Koirala, however, has called for the regular general convention to be held in Mangsir (November–December). “If other political parties have already begun preparations to hold their conventions in Mangsir, why can’t we do the same? If we truly want to make the Nepali Congress a party of new direction and new possibilities, we must hold our 15th general convention in Mangsir 2082 (November–December 2025),”  he said at the party’s Central Committee meeting. “I am confident that the General Secretary will bring forward a schedule for it, and I want to make it clear that I will extend my full support to that plan.” Koirala added that the NC must hold its regular general convention on time, as there is keen interest in the future direction of the Nepali Congress.

Koirala’s statement may have struck a chord among younger party members, who see the upcoming convention as an opportunity to redefine what the NC stands for in future and to win back relevance among the youth population. The challenge, however, lies in balancing the party’s traditional power structures with the growing demand for generational change.

The coming months will be crucial. The way the country’s oldest democratic party handles its leadership transition will not only determine its internal cohesion but also its role in shaping Nepal’s political future.

Following the GenZ movement, CPN (Maoist Center) has embarked on an unusually rapid internal overhaul. Pushpa Kamal Dahal remains in charge, but under immense pressure he has proposed, and begun implementing a full restructuring of the party. In late September, the Maoist Center’s top bodies were dissolved. Through an emergency meeting, the party agreed to disband its Central Committee and all subsidiary committees, and convened a special general convention before the year’s end. 

Under Dahal’s plan, the Central Committee and lower party organs were converted into a “convention organizing committee”, chaired by Dahal himself, to hold an early general convention (anticipated in November–December). In effect, Maoist Centre is resetting its leadership structure. All party committees at the national, provincial and local levels have been dissolved, with a transitional secretariat (composed of existing office‑bearers) managing day-to-day affairs until new leaders are elected. 

In Dahal’s own words “the party cannot function in the old fashion”. He has called for “new procedures”, urging leaders to transform their lifestyles and cultural behaviors. Maoist insiders say the convention will include direct elections for every post (including chairperson) and fundamentally reconstitute the party for the upcoming elections.

Dahal’s proposals explicitly target generational change. He has insisted that younger leaders and marginalized groups take a far larger role. At recent party meetings he has called for maximizing the participation of GenZ youths, women, Dalits and other under‑represented groups in all layers of party structure, including the Central Committee. 

The official party line is that the Maoists have long championed the core GenZ agendas, such as a directly elected executive, a fully proportional electoral system, and an inclusive democracy, and that only by uniting Maoist veterans with the GenZ movement can those demands be met. 

Agni Sapkota, the party spokesperson, has announced that all office‑bearers’ property details will be made public and a special commission will probe leaders’ assets, signaling a new anti‑corruption posture in line with GenZ demands.

Crucially, the Maoist Center has also created or tacitly embraced youth-led caucuses within the party. In mid-October, young Maoist activists announced a new “GenZ Red Force” (or “Red Task Force”) to press the party toward its stated goals. This group, led by Smriti Timalsina, a central member of the All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (Revolutionary), has appointed coordinators in dozens of districts to expand the party’s grassroots reach and restructure the organization. 

The task force has vowed to “protect the party from leaders who have tried to dominate it for years” by rooting out corruption and promoting new leaders. It has called for investigation into all Maoist leaders’ assets (starting with those currently in power), and even suggesting that top leaders like Dahal serve only one more term before stepping down. 

In effect, young Maoist cadres are policing their own party, aligning with GenZ’s sentiments. As one analyst notes, the Maoists have “pledged to include GenZ members in all committees,” and their new commissions (on party finances, internal discipline, etc.) appear as much about placating youth outrage as about real reform.

However, Vice-chair of All Nepal National Independent Students’ Union (Revolutionary) Biraj Thapa says that GenZ Red Force is an unofficial group and it has no credibility within the party. “They have neither consulted with party leaders nor with the student wing of the party,” he told ApEx.

On policy, the Maoist Centre is likewise repositioning to mirror youth grievances. Dahal has publicly echoed GenZ demands: he repeatedly highlighted the need for a directly elected president and a proportional electoral system as answers to the crisis. In recent rallies, he urged Maoists and GenZ activists to “contest the elections together” so that the protesters’ goals can be achieved. 

The party is effectively trying to invert its image: long seen as a gerontocracy, it now champions youth empowerment and transparency—even if many doubt the sincerity of these moves.

On communication, Maoist leaders have tried to show solidarity with the young protesters. Dahal issued statements supporting the GenZ protests while cautioning against violence, and he has repeatedly framed the Maoist Center as the only major party with a genuine record of progressive reform. The party’s official mouthpiece and youth organizations have used social and mainstream media to court young voters. 

Post‑GenZ reforms in the Maoist Center have been seen as more profound and systemic than other parties. No top leader (including Dahal) was immediately forced out, but the entire party apparatus has been set to be renewed. However, the general convention of the party has always seen the election of Dahal as the party chair. However, the party cadets now talk openly about “new leadership” and rectifying past errors. 

ANNISU (Revolutionary) Vice-chair Thapa says this is the high time to listen to the youth voices in the party and cash in on the momentum of the GenZ movement. “This movement has marked time to restructure the party wing and sister organizations,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Maoist Center, along with the CPN (Unified Socialist) and six other parties, has signed an agreement on party unification. The chairpersons of these parties signed the agreement after reaching a consensus on an 18-point proposal.

President Ram Chandra Paudel is leaving for Qatar on Monday to attend the Second World Summit for Social Development to be held in Doha of Qatar from 4 to 6 November. 

The President is visiting Qatar to attend the Summit at the invitation of Amir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Amrit Bahadur Rai said at a news conference today at the Ministry.

The President is leading a 12-member Nepali delegation to the Summit. 

President Paudel is scheduled to address the Plenary Meetings and the High-Level Roundtable of the Summit on November 4.

The President is scheduled to hold meetings with the UN Secretary General and the Amir of Qatar, it is said. 

On the sidelines of the Summit, the President will also meet some world leaders attending the event.

It is said that the Summit would make a shared commitment on cooperation and assistance for social development. 

The Summit is also expected to hold intensive discussions on development inequalities in the world, demographic imbalances and the impacts of technology on the society.    

The First World Summit for Social Development was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1995. 

President Paudel and the delegation will return to Kathmandu on November 6.

The Supreme Court has issued an interim order not to immediately implement the government's decision to recall the ambassadors.

A joint bench of Supreme Court Justices Sharanga Subedi and Shrikant Poudel on Sunday issued the order.

Earlier on October 16, the government had decided to recall the ambassadors from 11 different countries. 

Meanwhile, journalist Sunil Bhattarai had filed a writ petition demanding that the decision be scrapped. 

The Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were made the defendants.