Kathmandu, March 27 — Balendra “Balen” Shah was sworn in as Nepal’s 47th prime minister at a special ceremony held at the Office of the President on Friday. President Ramchandra Paudel, who had earlier appointed Shah under Article 76(1) of the Constitution, administered the oath of office and secrecy.
The event 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 corps.
At 35, Balen is among the youngest leaders to assume the country’s top executive post. He had taken the oath of secrecy as a member of the House of Representatives a day earlier. A structural engineer by training, Shah rose to public prominence after winning the Kathmandu mayoralty in 2022 as an independent candidate running on the walking stick symbol. Known for his black rectangular sunglasses and a former underground rapper, he surprised the political establishment in that contest.
In the 2022 mayoral race Shah received 61,767 votes, defeating Nepali Congress candidate Sirjana Singh, who got 38,341, and former mayor Keshav Sthapit of CPN-UML, who received 38,117 votes. Four years later he has moved from local leadership to the national stage.
Nepal’s new Parliament met for the first time after this month’s elections, with newly elected members taking their oaths. The previous Parliament had been dissolved in September 2025 following the Gen-Z protest. Senior Nepali Congress MP Arjun Narsingh KC, the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives, administered the oaths at the under-construction multipurpose hall of the Federal Parliament in Singha Durbar.
In the March 5 House of Representatives election the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) emerged as the largest party with 182 seats. The full seat distribution listed: RSP 182, Nepali Congress 38, CPN-UML 25, Nepali Communist Party 17, Shram Sanskriti Party 7, and the Rastriya Prajatantra Party 5.
Under the proportional representation (PR) results announced by the Election Commission on March 16, 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. In the first-past-the-post (FPTP) race, 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 has 275 members under the Constitution: 165 elected through FPTP and 110 through PR. (ANI)
