Kathmandu [Nepal], March 27 (ANI): Balendra Shah ‘Balen’ was sworn in as Nepal’s Prime Minister at a special ceremony at the Office of the President on Friday. President Ramchandra Paudel administered the oath of office and secrecy after appointing Shah earlier in the day under Article 76(1) of the Constitution.
The ceremony was attended by Vice President Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav, Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Raut, National Assembly Chair Narayan Prasad Dahal, former prime ministers, senior officials, security chiefs and members of the diplomatic community.
As Nepal’s 47th Prime Minister, Balen is one of the youngest leaders to head the Himalayan nation. Earlier on Thursday, he also took the oath of secrecy as a member of the House of Representatives (HoR). In 2022, the structural engineer known for his black rectangular sunglasses and a past in underground rap stunned the political establishment by winning the Kathmandu mayoralty.
Running as an independent on the walking stick symbol, Balen secured 61,767 votes, defeating established figures from the Nepali Congress. Sirjana Singh received 38,341 votes and CPN-UML’s Keshav Sthapit, a former Kathmandu mayor, got 38,117 votes. Four years later, the 35-year-old has moved from local prominence to national leadership.
The first meeting of Nepal’s new Parliament after this month’s elections convened on Thursday, with newly elected members taking the oath of office and secrecy. The previous Parliament was dissolved in September 2025 following the Gen-Z protest. Nepali Congress parliamentarian Arjun Narsingh KC, the senior-most HoR member, administered the oath at the under-construction multipurpose hall of the Federal Parliament at Singha Durbar.
In the House of Representatives elections held on March 5, the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) emerged as the largest party with 182 seats, followed by the Nepali Congress with 38 seats, CPN-UML with 25, Nepali Communist Party with 17, Shram Sanskriti Party with seven, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party with five seats.
Under the Proportional Representation (PR) system, 57 lawmakers were elected from the RSP, 20 from the Nepali Congress, 16 from CPN-UML, nine from the Nepali Communist Party, and four each from the Shram Sanskriti Party and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party. The Election Commission announced the PR results on March 16.
Under First-Past-the-Post (FPTP), the RSP won 125 seats, the Nepali Congress 19, CPN-UML nine, Nepali Communist Party eight, Shram Sanskriti Party three, RPP one, plus one independent. The House of Representatives comprises 275 members under the Constitution, including 165 elected through FPTP and 110 through PR. (ANI)
