In Hindu temples, bells are often rung to announce the arrival of the devotee or wake up the deity so that prayers can be heard and devotion duly noted. The sounds of bells, it is believed, can help remove negative energy. Its vibration can calm us and help us rid ourselves of sadness.

In many cultures, the ringing of bells can signify death or serve as a call to service or prayer. In Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel For Whom the Bell Tolls, published in 1940, the reference to church bells announcing a death or a funeral provides a backdrop for an exploration of humanity’s interconnectedness. For centuries, the sounds, echoes and vibrations of ringing bells have inspired meditations on war, peace, love, the end, the beginning and everything in between.

Sometimes, though, the sound of a bell isn’t all that profound or symbolic—the bell tolls only to draw attention or to beckon. So, it was in 2026 in Nepal.

A bell is the election symbol of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), which is on course to secure the most monumental election victory in Nepal’s history. At last count, as this paper went to press, the party appeared to be cruising towards an absolute two-thirds majority. Political leaders of other traditional parties, save for the Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who took refuge in the remote hills of Rukum East, were thoroughly waylaid, having lost with a huge margin of votes.

The party’s election victory is so complete, overwhelming and uniform across the country that it almost resembles Prithvi Narayan Shah’s succession of victories that led to the unification of Nepal, both in scale and the enormity of the moment.

As the bells ring marking the RSP’s ascendancy in Nepal’s political order, the question isn’t so much for whom the bell tolls, but rather who did all the ringing of the bells.

First, the Gen Z protests of September marked a watershed moment in Nepal’s history. As the RSP’s sweeping election results were coming into focus, the party issued a call asking its members not to engage in celebratory parades. The decision was a wise call, reflecting its intent to honour the many people who lost their lives in the September protests. Those who died in the protests are the ones who rang the bells in the first place, and it is their memory that must ring through in the times ahead.

Second, the bells rang because of Prime Minister Sushila Karki, her cabinet, the President, Nepal’s army, the Election Commission and others who contributed to holding the elections on time. They successfully navigated a complex, sensitive situation and demonstrated Nepal’s deep political resilience. As deep as the wounds of the September protests were, the elections provided the base for an equally transformative change. The bells must ring for them, for it is their leadership during this critical time that created the environment for elections, and which, in turn, provided people with the reason for their first ray of renewed hope in the political system.

Third, Nepalis came out in droves to ring the bell. These election results are as much theirs to celebrate as they are RSP’s to claim. The fact that people participated, voted, and overwhelmingly returned a clear choice for change signals that the process of reestablishing the credibility of the political establishment has begun.

Prior to the elections, the RSP released an election manifesto outlining 100 goals and commitments that they would work to complete. Many RSP leaders will no doubt rush to fulfil those commitments. Those goals represent a long list of needs, all of which are required in some form or another. But perhaps it would be wise to be cautious before diving headfirst into those goals.

People did not vote for the RSP because it had a compelling election manifesto. Rather, people voted for the party in part because they didn’t believe in any election manifesto. While its parliamentarians must dive into work wholeheartedly, they must not be lulled into a false sense of purpose that misses the call of the moment.

Nepal needs a period of healing where faith, trust and confidence in the political establishment are reestablished. The September protests reflected the absence of that faith, trust and confidence. That cynicism and disillusionment people held for political parties and the establishment will no doubt take a long time to overcome, but trust in the system must be repaired to work for people.

The RSP must use its overwhelming mandate to heal, rather than further the divide and disillusionment. In its election manifesto, the party has committed to finding justice for the September protestors and for the cases still pending from the armed Maoist conflict. The findings of the investigations into the September protests are expected this week. Despite having established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons, Nepal’s transitional justice for the Maoist conflict era remains mired in debate, inaction and disagreements.

The challenge will be to deliver speedy justice without vindictive retribution. It must deliver speedy justice to heal and not just satisfy the public thirst for the spectacle of punishment. None of this will be easy, but a just path must be found. The country cannot progress without first healing, no matter how absolute the parliamentary majority.

The RSP’s mandate calls on it to prioritise people’s everyday needs in livelihood, education, health, water, electricity, cooking fuel and quality of life. This will require good governance, zero corruption and, perhaps, the hardest task of all, returning power to the people.

After winning such an overwhelming mandate, it might seem ironic to ask RSP leaders to shed their power and decision-making authority. It might seem odd to ask them to decentralise and devolve power and decision-making authority to the people, and away from the centre.

This is where the scope of RSP’s overwhelming mandate must be understood and exercised. The civic activism of people rising in protest, though unfortunately violent and tragic, established the party’s electoral wave. Civic activism should be honoured and included as a key principle for governance. This means devolving power and decision-making authority away from the centre to the provincial and local levels.

No one has all the answers. The RSP doesn’t have all the answers despite a compelling election manifesto. What the September protests showed was that transformative change could be crowd-sourced and built through civic activism. The new model of governance must allow for a high level of civic activism and participation, devolve decision-making to the local level and offer a transparent and corruption-free environment within which all of this can happen.

Just as Hemingway was inspired to title his classic novel from John Donne, a 16th-century poet, so too must the RSP remain inspired by the civic activism of Nepalis that underpins its mandate.

“Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main,” Donne wrote. So too must the RSP allow all Nepalis to participate and choose their own destiny.