Audio By Carbonatix
A three-year-old party won Nepal's general elections by a landslide, authorities said, positioning its candidate, Balendra Shah, to become the next prime minister, with a mandate to restore political stability.
The March 5 election was the Himalayan nation's first vote since demonstrations against corruption last September, led by Gen Z protesters that killed 77 people and toppled the government.
"If everything goes well, we can expect that it can give a stable government for five years," said constitutional expert Purna Man Shakya, referring to splits over dividing up the spoils of office that doomed prior majority governments.
Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won 182 seats in the 275-member parliament, the Election Commission said on Thursday, the largest majority of any party in more than six decades.
That holds out hope for stability in a nation that has seen 32 changes of government in the last 35 years, battering investors' confidence while crippling economic and jobs growth.
"We are encouraged by the victory," said newly-elected lawmaker Sisir Khanal, a senior leader of the winning RSP. "The mandate has made us very responsible."
The election relegated the oldest party, the Nepali Congress, to distant second place with just 38 seats, while the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) of former Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli won only 25.
Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki succeeded Oli as the interim prime minister tasked with holding the election.
The election has been dominated by Shah, the former mayor of Kathmandu, the capital, whose rap music critical of the establishment has gained him near-rockstar-like fame on social media.
He is the first politician expected to become prime minister who hails from the southern plains, known as Madhesh, where smaller regional groups failed to win a single seat.
His RSP canvassed for a programme to fight graft, create jobs , and more than double the $42 billion economy in five years.
But its firebrand leader, Ravi Lamichhane, a former television host, faces charges of misusing the funds of small savings companies. He denies the accusations and has been released on bail.
Last year's youth-led uprising in the nation of 30 million nestled between China and India followed a social media ban that drew thousands into the streets, triggering clashes and deaths that forced Oli's resignation.
Latest Stories
-
Flying with two wings: Africa’s opportunity to strengthen economic governance
36 minutes -
Callistus Mahama: Before the race begins; A call for discipline, reflection, and duty
51 minutes -
Weija Paediatric Hospital delayed as Health Ministry cites procurement dispute
1 hour -
Greater Accra Minister apologises over Northern posting remarks
1 hour -
Nigeria opposition alliance falters as two leading figures quit, clouding 2027 unity push
2 hours -
Oil prices ease as US pauses Project Freedom to seek deal with Iran
2 hours -
Mission is to preach peace, says Pope in response to Trump attacks
2 hours -
Nigeria supplies less than half of allocated crude to refineries in early 2026
2 hours -
Iraq offers May-loading crude at deep discounts for loading inside Hormuz
2 hours -
‘I thought he was going to hit me’ OpenAI co-founder says of Musk
2 hours -
US to safety test new AI models from Google, Microsoft, xAI
3 hours -
Gap co-founder Doris Fisher dies aged 94
3 hours -
UK government discusses hosting Olympics in 2040s
3 hours -
Trump says US to pause operation to guide vessels through Strait of Hormuz
3 hours -
Cruise ship with hantavirus outbreak to sail to Canary Islands
3 hours