Many young people in Nepal who helped bring a new government into power are now angry and protesting again because they say the promises of real change have not been kept.

In September last year, a large youth-led protest began in the capital, Kathmandu, against corruption, lack of jobs, poor governance and the government’s ban on social media. These protests were led mainly by members of Nepal’s Generation Z, the young generation born roughly after the year 1997.

The protests started on September 8, when tens of thousands of mostly young demonstrators gathered in the streets. They tried to break through police barriers and enter the parliament building. Security forces fired on the protesters, and in the violence that followed, 76 people were killed, and more than 2,300 were injured.

One of the young protesters, 22-year-old Mukesh Awasti, had planned to leave for Australia to study civil engineering, but instead joined the revolt. He was shot by security forces and lost his leg. Lying in a hospital bed at the National Trauma Centre in Kathmandu, Awasti now says he regrets joining the protest because he feels the new government has failed the people.

“I am regretting my decision to take part in the protest because they have been zero achievement from the new government we brought which has failed us,” Awasti said. “There should be an end to corruption, which has not happened, and the people who opened fire on the demonstrations should have been arrested but that has also not happened either.”

After the protests grew strong, the old government collapsed and Sushila Karki was appointed Nepal’s first female prime minister on September 12. Karki is a retired Supreme Court judge. The new government promised to hold fresh elections in March next year.

However, many of the young people who took part in the protests now feel disappointed because they say the government has not delivered on the change they hoped for. Several youth protesters have returned to the streets in recent weeks, demanding action on corruption and justice for those hurt during the September demonstrations. Some demonstrations have been broken up by the police.

One protester, Suman Bohara, who walks with crutches and has a shattered right foot from the protests, spoke outside the prime minister’s office. “We are back here in the street because the government has failed to live up to their promise,” Bohara said. “There are so many families of those who lost their lives and many who were injured, but what has the government done? Nothing. We are here because we are compelled to.”

So far, Nepal’s anti-graft agency has filed only one major corruption case since the new government took over. The case does not include many of the key political figures that protesters say were corrupt. Some politicians who were accused of corruption by the youth are now preparing to run in the upcoming elections. No cases have been filed against leaders who were in power when security forces fired on the protesters in September.

Despite protests and criticism, Prime Minister Sushila Karki said that the government is committed to holding elections. “As the world is looking forward to a smooth change in government through our elections on March 5, I want to assure that we will deliver these elections,” Karki said. “Our preparations are almost complete, and the security environment has improved a lot as our security apparatus is assured enough.”

Even though elections are planned, many young activists are confused about what they want next. There is no single leader or group representing all of them, and different youth factions want different things. Some want the direct election of the prime minister, others want the current constitution scrapped, and many want all previous politicians who were considered corrupt to be jailed.

According to analysts, this lack of unity and clear goals has become a major challenge for the movement. Abeeral Thapa, principal of the Polygon College of Journalism and Mass Communications in Kathmandu, said the protests have become confused because groups do not agree on their demands or how the government should have been formed.

“All the confusion right now in Nepal is because of the lack of clarity among the Gen Z groups on what they are demanding and how the government was formed,” Thapa said.

Some young people are now opposing the planned elections, arguing that the protest was not just about electing a new parliament but about immediate action to end corruption and arrest the corrupt politicians. Other groups say they still want elections that will choose new lawmakers who can carry out these changes.

There is also uncertainty about how much power the current government has to meet all the demands. Nepal’s constitution does not have clear rules for forming an interim government, and the president said the main purpose of the interim government was to hold the parliamentary elections.

“The protests were not well planned to begin with,” Thapa said. “They began with controlling corruption and end the ban on social media. But in reality, what happened was like they had gone deer hunting but ended up killing a tiger, with the protest taking a major turn with the government collapsing.”

For now, it remains uncertain whether the elections promised for March can be held, but Thapa said there is no alternative to holding polls as the way forward.