With Nepal’s general elections just four months away, the country finds itself grappling with a daunting set of challenges: restoring law and order, recovering looted weapons, re-incarcerating thousands of escaped prisoners, and—perhaps most critically—building trust among a wary political class and jittery public. The aftermath of the Gen Z uprising on September 8 and 9, 2025, which toppled former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and left at least 74 people dead, has left the Himalayan nation’s interim government, led by Prime Minister Sushila Karki, racing against the clock to stabilize the country ahead of the March 5, 2026, polls.
As reported by The Kathmandu Post, Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal announced on November 8 that the government will launch a special operation to recover weapons looted during the Gen Z protests and to rearrest prisoners who escaped from jails in the chaos. Aryal, speaking at the National Economic Dialogue 2.0 organized by the Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries, emphasized the importance of grassroots cooperation. "For security reasons, I cannot reveal the exact number of weapons that were looted. However, some have been recovered, while others were destroyed in fires set to various buildings during the protests," Aryal stated.
According to the Nepal Police Headquarters, over 1,100 firearms were looted during the unrest. As of November 9, 2025, 710 of those weapons have been recovered, while some were destroyed in arson incidents. The rest, authorities fear, could still be in the hands of criminals or political agitators. The urgency is palpable: police in Kathmandu recently arrested 21-year-old Manoj Dhungana, who was found with a police gas gun and other riot control gear looted during the protests.
The prison break that accompanied the Gen Z uprising was unprecedented. Out of 14,549 prisoners who escaped during the September 9 revolt, 9,521 have returned to jail, but a staggering 5,105 remain at large. The consequences have been swift and severe. Police spokesperson DIG Abi Narayan Kafle told The Kathmandu Post that some escapees have committed serious crimes, including murder. In one particularly grim case, a prisoner who escaped from Nakhhu Prison in Lalitpur murdered his wife shortly after reaching home in Kavre. Another escapee from the same prison was found to have killed a man in Kathmandu’s Thamel area.
"It is true that theft cases have increased, but we have also taken several of those involved under control," Kafle said, noting a marked rise in theft and burglary in Kathmandu and other urban centers since the protests. Police are now investigating whether these crimes are directly linked to the prison escapees.
The mounting wave of criminal incidents has triggered alarm among political leaders and the public alike, especially as the nation moves toward elections. Political parties and other stakeholders have voiced concerns about security challenges. Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa underscored the gravity of the situation, stating, "The government must create a favourable environment for the elections, but political parties should not place the entire burden of maintaining peace and security on the government." Thapa argued that a climate of trust is essential: "If political parties insist that the election environment cannot be ensured until all weapons outside government control are recovered, and the government, in counter, argues that political parties have to pledge they will not use weapons during the elections, such a situation will not help create a conducive atmosphere for the polls."
The challenge of building trust extends beyond just the physical security of the elections. In an exclusive interview with ANI on November 10, Nepali Congress leader and former minister Minendra Rijal urged the interim government to act as a true "government of referees"—impartial, transparent, and dedicated to ensuring a level playing field for all political parties. "First, winning the confidence of the political parties. And for that, the Prime Minister will have to be able to reassure political parties that this is a government of referees. There will be a level playing field as far as the elections are held, no one in the government will have unfair advantage as far as contesting elections are concerned," Rijal said.
Rijal’s insistence on neutrality is rooted in the current makeup of the interim government. Its cabinet members, drawn from diverse backgrounds but not representing any political party, are expected to refrain from contesting the elections themselves. "If anybody wants to run for the office tomorrow, if anybody wants to form a political party and contest the election, that can be more leaders of the Gen-Z movement, that can even be members of current Council of Ministers, they have to just get out of the government, resign from the government and announce their own political party and prepare for the election," Rijal highlighted. He added, "I would like to see that the government, the prime minister especially, will be able to guarantee that the members of our cabinet are referees who oversee the elections in a free, fair manner. Only then she can assure political parties, can win their confidence. Rest of her work becomes much smoother after that."
Political divisions remain sharp. The Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML), led by former Prime Minister Oli, has opposed the proposed March election, further complicating the path to consensus. Meanwhile, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, who emerged publicly after the September uprising, has demanded robust security guarantees for the upcoming vote. The interim government, for its part, is urging the private sector and ordinary citizens alike to support its efforts to restore order and recover weapons and fugitives.
The stakes could hardly be higher. Nepal’s fragile transition from the upheaval of the Gen Z protests to a semblance of constitutional order rests on the ability of the interim government to maintain both political and public trust. As Rijal put it, "There has to be order, and for that to happen, government has to be more reassuring and one of the things I've been saying very clearly right from the outset is, in the current government, there are no representatives of any political party. I'm okay with that, as long as the ones who are in the government will also not form their own party and contest the election."
With criminal incidents still rising, weapons unaccounted for, and thousands of escapees at large, the road to the March 5, 2026, elections is fraught with uncertainty. Yet, for many in Nepal, the hope is that a transparent, peaceful, and competitive election can help the country finally turn the page on a turbulent chapter and set a new course—one built on trust, order, and genuine democratic competition.
