Balendra Shah, foreground, former mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan Metropolis and prime ministerial candidate of the Rastriya Swatantra Social gathering, arrives to obtain his victory certificates after defeating former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli of the Communist Social gathering of Nepal–Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) in Jhapa, about 267 miles (430 kilometers) southeast of Kathmandu, Nepal, Sunday, March 8, 2026.
Niranjan Shrestha/AP
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Niranjan Shrestha/AP
KATHMANDU, Nepal — A Nepali political social gathering led by an ex-rapper is about for a landslide victory within the nation’s first parliamentary election since Gen Z protests ousted the outdated management that has dominated the Himalayan nation for many years.
The Rastriya Swatantra, or Nationwide Unbiased Social gathering, shaped solely 4 years in the past, had already gained 103 of 165 instantly elected seats and led in 21 different constituencies within the outcomes printed Sunday morning by Nepal’s Election Fee.
Different political events and impartial candidates had gained 27 seats in whole thus far. Officers have been nonetheless counting the votes Sunday and last outcomes have been anticipated later within the week.
The social gathering’s prime ministerial candidate is rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, who gained the 2022 Kathmandu mayoral race. He emerged as a number one determine within the 2025 rebellion that ousted former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli.
In Nepal, voters instantly elect 165 members to the Home of Representatives, the decrease chamber of Parliament. The remaining 110 seats within the 275-member physique are allotted by way of a proportional illustration system, below which political events are assigned seats based mostly on their share of the vote. On Sunday, RSP additionally led with about 51% of the 110 seats.
The comparatively new RSP has unseated the 2 long-dominant events: the Nepali Congress and the Communist Social gathering of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), who’ve taken turns ruling the nation.
Native papers known as the sweeping win a historic second. “RSP set for a landslide victory,” mentioned the favored The Himalayan Occasions. “Individuals’s poll revolt; shift in political paradigm,” mentioned Annapurna Publish.
RSP supporters have been celebrating the win in a number of constituencies, providing the winners flower garlands, bouquets, scarfs and smearing them with crimson vermilion powder.
The social gathering officers, nonetheless, have requested their candidates and supporters to chorus from victory rallies or every other public celebrations out of respect for the handfuls of lives misplaced throughout final 12 months’s youth-led protests.
In Nepal, voters get two poll papers, one to decide on a candidate of their alternative who’s normally a political social gathering nominee and the opposite to decide on a celebration they like.
RSP clearly has greater than half the instantly elected seats and the outcomes of the second poll additionally present the social gathering has greater than 50% of the votes in its favor. They require the assist of half the overall variety of members within the decrease chamber of Parliament to type a authorities.
Final 12 months’s protests in opposition to corruption and poor governance have been triggered by a social media ban earlier than snowballing into a well-liked revolt in opposition to the federal government. Dozens have been killed and a whole bunch wounded when protesters attacked authorities buildings and police opened hearth on them.
