Former rapper and Gen Z's candidate poised to win Nepali election by landslide
CBC
In a resounding victory that is guaranteed to reshape Nepal's politics, rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah appeared headed for a landslide win in the South Asian country's first polls since youth-led protests toppled the previous government last fall.
Partial results released by Nepal's election commission late Sunday showed that the 35-year old one-time rapper Shah, known simply as Balen, and his centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) had clinched 122 out of 165 directly elected parliamentary seats.
Nepal's voters across the country overwhelmingly put their confidence in Balen in what is seen as emphatic confirmation that Gen Z anger against the old guard considered responsible for government corruption and nepotism can be harnessed into real political change.
"We want him to lead a new revolution" focused on "youth power, new thinking and new reforms," said Shubha Khadgi, 24, who voted in Kathmandu, the country's capital.
Thursday's election was Nepal's first since security forces opened fire on demonstrators who had initially gathered to protest a social media ban last September. Nineteen protesters died on the first day and anger exploded onto the streets, tapping into deep frustration against Nepal's ruling elite, seen as corrupt, untouchable and ultimately responsible for a weakening economy.
More than 70 people were killed and hundreds more injured in the two-day Gen Z uprising that saw the parliament and dozens of other buildings across the country torched.
Bells, which are the symbol that the RSP uses on the ballot, rang out loudly at a gathering of supporters in Nepal's eastern constituency of Jhapa-5 on Saturday, after the country's election commission confirmed that the ex-rapper had soundly beaten his opponent, former prime minister KP Sharma Oli.
Balen, who first gained popularity for rap songs that criticized Nepal's ruling elite, won by a margin just shy of 50,000 votes over Oli, 74, who was forced from power after the uprising but still chose to run again.
While Balen appears poised to win handily, the results aren't yet official. Nepal also has parliamentary seats that are allocated proportionally to parties, which take longer to count and are not included in the initial tally from the election commission.
Still, while the final election results haven't been confirmed, Balen's decisive win over the ousted prime minister was "really satisfying to watch," said Khadgi, who was glued to her phone screen as results trickled in after polls closed on Thursday.
She told CBC News she believed her country's old political guard had been aware of the message Nepal's younger generation was sending, but had "just been ignoring it" for months.
After several years of being eligible to vote, Khadgi finally decided to register to cast a ballot in this election.
"It came straight from the heart this time," she said. "It was high time that the youth spoke."
The results are "remarkable," said political observer and constitutional expert Bipin Adhikari, who teaches law at Kathmandu University.
