Kathmandu (Nepal) (AFP) – Nepal’s rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister on Friday after sweeping the first election since deadly anti-corruption protests toppled the government last year. The 35-year-old reformist and his Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) dominated polls this month on a platform of youth-driven political change. “I, Balendra Shah, in the name of the country and people, pledge that I will be loyal to the constitution,” Shah said, dressed all in black, including his trademark dark sunglasses.
Crowds at the ceremony cheered and chanted his name after he formally took office, where he named key cabinet posts, including former youth activist Sudan Gurung as interior minister. At least 77 people were killed in the anti-corruption youth uprising, which began over a brief social media ban but tapped into longstanding fury over economic hardship in the nation of 30 million people.
Shah, better known as Balen, was sworn in a day after he released his first public statement since winning the March 5 elections, via a rap song posted on social media. “The strength of unity is my national power,” Shah sang in the song, which has racked up nearly three million views since being released on social media and streaming sites on Thursday evening. Shah had remained silent publicly since his RSP party won the election in a landslide, winning a commanding majority of 182 in the 275-seat House of Representatives.
He campaigned alongside the RSP president, combative television host Rabi Lamichhane, 51, a former deputy prime minister and interior minister and now a fellow lawmaker who retains a pivotal role in power. “My heart is full of courage, my red blood is boiling; my brothers stand with me, this time we will rise,” Shah said in his song, over a video of him campaigning for election. “May my breath not run out; I will run like a leopard,” he added.
Finance Minister Swarnim Wagle, a former United Nations economic advisor, takes up the hard task of reforming Nepal’s battered economy. Foreign Minister Shishir Khanal, a former education minister, must balance landlocked Nepal’s relations between giants India and China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was swift to congratulate Shah on Friday, saying he looked forward to taking “India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights,” he said in a statement. China also congratulated Shah, with foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian telling reporters Beijing wanted to “deepen practical cooperation” with Nepal.
– ‘Caution and boldness’ – Sushila Karki, 73, a former chief justice who had led the caretaker administration for six months, said the country’s future lay in the hands of a younger generation. “It makes me even more delighted to have a 35-year-old youth as my successor,” the outgoing interim prime minister, who hugged Shah after he took the oath, said in a statement. “May you succeed in honoring the people’s mandate by striking a balance between caution and boldness.”
Karki, who had ordered an investigation into the crackdown on protesters, said in her statement Thursday that a report with the findings would be released. She did not give further details. According to a leaked copy of the report seen by AFP, the commission investigating the events recommended the prosecution of ex-prime minister KP Sharma Oli, who was toppled in the uprising. Four-time prime minister and Marxist leader Oli, 74, was defeated by Shah in Oli’s own constituency. At least 19 young people were killed in a crackdown on the first day of protests. No one has been convicted of the killings.
Former interior minister Ramesh Lekhak and ex-police chief Chandra Kuber Khapung should also be investigated and prosecuted, according to the recommendations in the report. The report said that in 48 of the 63 completed autopsies, victims died from bullet wounds, with the majority struck in the chest or head.
© 2024 AFP
