Rapper-politician Balendra Shah s party wins Nepal election

The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has achieved a significant victory in Nepal’s election, marking the first polls since last year’s protests led by young people that removed the previous government. In the final count, the RSP secured 182 seats, just two short of a two-thirds supermajority in the lower house of parliament. This marks the largest win for a single party in Nepal in many years. The Nepali Congress followed in second place with 38 seats, while the Communist Party of Nepal UML (CPN-UML) came in third with 25 seats. Approximately 60% of nearly 19 million eligible voters participated in the election. As a result, Balendra Shah, a rapper who transitioned into politics, is poised to become the next leader of the nation. The formation of the new government is expected to take at least a week. This victory is remarkable for the RSP, which was established in 2022 and finished fourth in that year's election. Shah, like his party, has limited political experience; he has only served as the mayor of Kathmandu. The significance of this landslide is heightened by Nepal’s mixed political system, which combines first-past-the-post and proportional representation, making it difficult for a single party to dominate. The election results reflect a strong demand for change, a sentiment that was evident during the campaign, where parties appealed to Nepal’s youth with promises to tackle issues like unemployment, economic stagnation, and inequality. These concerns were also central to the youth-led protests last year, which initially started over a social media ban and grew to criticize the political system and highlight class inequality, especially regarding the "nepo babies," or children of politicians in the country.