The Gen Z revolution of Nepal has now culminated with a sweeping victory for a new party led by former rapper Balendra Shah. His party is set to replace the ruling party of the past few decades, the Communist Party of Nepal. Shah’s party has won super majorities in both the direct-vote seats of the parliament as well as the proportional representation seats. The Communist Party has fallen from majority party status to fringe 3rd party status in this one election.
Nepal election 2026: Rapper Balendra Shah on track to be next PM as his party heads for landslide – BBC
Former rapper Balendra Shah’s party is on track for a landslide victory during following last week’s elections in Nepal.
It was announced on Saturday that Shah, 35, had unseated four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli in Jhapa 5, a traditionally safe constituency for the 74-year-old’s Communist Party of Nepal (UML).
But his was not the only victory for his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP).
These elections will choose 275 new representatives for Nepal’s lower house of parliament. Unlike parliamentary elections in countries like the UK, 165 of the seats are chosen directly while 110 are chosen by proportional representation (when seats in parliament correspond to total votes for each party).
Not all results are in yet, but so far Shah’s RSP has won 125 of the 165 direct-vote seats, and 58 of the 110 proportional representation seats.
In contrast, Oli’s party won eight of the direct-vote seats and 16 of the proportional representation seats at time of writing. A spokesman for the party called results “unexpected”.