Balendra Shah ‘Balen’ was on Friday appointed prime minister of Nepal, becoming the youngest elected leader to hold the nation’s top executive post.
President Ramchandra Paudel appointed Balen, parliamentary party leader of the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), under Article 76(1) of the Constitution, according to a notice from the President’s Office.
The 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician is also the first prime minister from the Madhes region.
President Paudel is set to administer the oath of office and secrecy at the President’s Office, Sheetal Niwas, at 12.34 pm, Kiran Pokharel, the president’s press advisor, said.
Balen’s swearing-in will feature a blend of Hindu and Buddhist traditions, with rituals said to include Shankhanad (conch blowing) by seven brahmins, recitation of Vedic hymns or Swasti Bachan by 108 Hindu Batuks (young brahmins), and Mangal Bachan or Buddhist scripture recitation by 107 Lamas, sources close to Balen said.
He is expected to form a relatively small cabinet of about 15 to 18 ministers.
Nepal elected former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, popularly known as Balen, and his RSP in the first general elections since last year’s Gen Z protests that called for generational change and an end to corruption. The RSP won 182 of the 275 seats in the House of Representatives (HoR), securing a majority under Article 76(1).
Of the 275 HoR members, 165 are elected by direct vote and 110 by proportional representation. All newly elected HoR members took their oaths on Thursday.
Balen defeated four-time prime minister K P Sharma Oli in the Jhapa-5 constituency, long a stronghold of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), by a large margin.
