Following mass protests last September over the Nepalese government's alleged corruption and social media block that toppled the previous government, Nepal held its first general elections in March with historic results. The new Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) achieved the largest majority in over 60 years, and Balendra Shah, a 35-year-old former rapper and the mayor of Kathmandu, was elected as Nepal's youngest prime minister.
Join a panel of scholars and experts as they discuss the new political paradigm, its geopolitical implications, and what lies ahead for Nepal.
Panelists
Suraj Parajuli '27 Master of Global Affairs
Keough School of Global Affairs
Suraj Parajuli is a Master of Global Affairs (MGA) student in the Keough School of Global Affairs, University of Notre Dame. His work focuses on the intersection of public health, community engagement, and public accountability. Prior to his MGA, he earned a bachelor’s degree in Health Care Management and worked in public health research and policy advocacy in Nepal. He is currently engaged in research on public health, democracy, and public goods provision in Nepal. His interests center on advancing inclusive and sustainable governance systems that
better align policy with the needs of marginalized communities.
Salina Kafle '25 Human Rights LL.M.
Executive Director, Human Rights and Justice Centre, Nepal
Salina Kafle is a human rights lawyer from Nepal specializing in transitional justice, accountability, and governance. She has worked extensively on issues of serious human rights violations in Nepal and has closely followed the country’s transitional justice process and its intersection with broader democratic developments. Salina holds an LL.M. from the University of Notre Dame and has worked at both national and international levels with a range of organizations. She was most recently a fellow at UN Women Headquarters in New York, contributing to work on gender equality and justice in transitional contexts. Currently based in Nepal, she works as an independent consultant with NGOs and UN agencies.
Monisha Choudhary
Gen Z Activist and Lawyer
Monisha Choudhary is a member of the Gen-Z Movement Alliance and played a key role in drafting, negotiating, and concluding the Agreement between the Government of Nepal and Gen-Z representatives. They are also a law graduate and socio-legal researcher working to further social justice in Nepal.
Dipin Subedi
Research Program Associate, Centre for Social Change, Nepal
Dipin Subedi works at the Center for Social Change, Nepal. He is a researcher and advocate working on governance and public policy, with particular engagement in environmental challenges, including climate change and environmental peacebuilding, as well as issues of trade, migration, foreign policy, and politics. He holds a Master's degree in Political Science from the University of Southern Mississippi.
Moderated by Liu Institute Faculty Fellow Susan Ostermann
Associate Professor of Global Affairs and Political Science, Keough School of Global Affairs
Susan Ostermann is a political scientist who studies state capacity, law and regulatory compliance, bringing deep regional expertise and an interdisciplinary approach shaped by years of fieldwork across South Asia. Ostermann holds a Ph.D. from the Travers Department of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. She also holds a law degree from Stanford Law School and worked for several years as a practicing litigator, focusing on class actions and intellectual property disputes.
Sponsored by the Keough School of Global Affairs's Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, and Pulte Institute for Global Development, with support from Notre Dame's Democracy Initiative and the Department of Political Science.