The Brief: Bishnu Sapkota on The 2022 General Elections Results, the Rise of the “Independents,” and the Future of Nepali Politics

EP. Br#007

This episode is part of PEI's coverage of the 2022 General Elections. For our pre-election analyses, please read our policy brief and/or listen to EP. BR#005 - The Brief: Anurag Acharya and Avinash Karna on Inclusion, Coalitions, and the Power Dynamics behind General Elections 2022

As the results of the 2022 General Elections slowly trickle in, there are some interesting trends that are taking shape. To begin with, the voter turnout, reported to be 61 percent by the Election Commission of Nepal, has been lower than those from earlier elections, which analysts are taking as a signal that more people may be beginning to tune out from this democratic process.

Number-wise, the initial results indicate that while the Nepali Congress will secure the largest number of seats, the UML has been able to hold its ground in second place. Perhaps the most unexpected outcome is the better-than-expected performance of the Rastriya Swatantra Party, an entity formed only several months before the elections. What is clear, however, is that the end result of this election is a hung parliament, leaving a lot of room for horsetrading among the political parties at the expense of stability and good governance.

In today’s episode, PEI colleague Saurab Lama sits with noted political commentator Bishnu Sapkota to discuss the significance of the 2022 elections, the low voter turnout, the early results, and the implications for the political parties. The two discuss the better-than-expected performance of the Rastriya Swatantra Party and also of the pre-election movements such as the #nonotagain. The two end on the topic of a hung parliament and its implications for the future of policymaking in Nepal.

Bishnu Sapkota is a noted columnist and political commentator. He taught at Nepal's Tribhuvan University for nearly a decade prior to getting into international development work. He managed a national dialogue program called Nepal Transition to Peace (NTTP) during Nepal's crucial phases of Maoist insurgency through the 2006 People's Movement, ensuing ethnic upheavals, the Constituent Assembly, and finally promulgation of the new constitution in 2015. The NTTP forum was an inclusive national dialogue platform by major political parties, government, and civil society. He led UNDP/Nepal's Conflict Prevention Program between 2014-2015. He is currently based in Cambodia with an international organization, working in the sector of democracy and governance. Mr. Sapkota is also affiliated as an Asia Fellow to the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, USA. Over the past decade, he has given talks and presentations on Nepal's peace process experiences at a number of international conferences and platforms.