Balen Shah: Rapper, mayor, Nepal’s next prime minister? – and young voters are happy
Nepal’s next prime minister? – and young voters are happy A truck carrying Nepal’s prime ministerial candidate Balendra Shah filled with cheering supporters in the capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday, could not move forward as the veteran singer, wearing sunglasses and a black suit, danced on the roof.
As Nepalese people go to the polls on Thursday in the first election since the Gen Z revolution overthrew the previous government last September, the singer-turned-Mayor of Kathmandu’s campaign has strengthened the electorate, with the majority of new voters hoping that Shah will defeat the conservative politicians of the South Asian country.
“He’s modern and relatable to most of us in our generation,” said Sirjana Gaire, a 20-year-old civil engineering student. “You understand how we want the world to see Nepal.”
The biggest political battle in this election – which could reshape Nepal’s politics for years to come – is playing out in the eastern district of Jhapa, where a 35-year-old former rapper, known as Balen, is facing a prime minister who was ousted by Gen Z protesters last fall.
KP Sharma Oli – who leads the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), known as UML – has been the prime minister of Nepal four times and is running for re-election, despite the fact that the 74-year-old man was forced to resign six months ago, after being fed up with government corruption, racism and economic inequality erupted in the streets.
The uprising began as a result of a ban on social media but turned into a deep frustration with Nepal’s political corruption and instability, especially after security forces met the protesters with fire and tear gas. More than 70 people died and hundreds more were injured during the two-day revolution that left most of the country’s landmarks, including the Parliament and the Supreme Court, torched.
Andrew Chang explains why Gen Z Nepalis burned down the prime minister’s house and forced him to resign. Photos provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters.
Oli’s campaign this time was full of small gatherings with dedicated supporters in his district.
“Gen Z protesters will not build our country,” said Bishnu Prasad Sedai, 72. “We have to help KP Oli win. We only trust him, we don’t trust anyone else,” he added, referring to Balen.
That feeling is hard to find in Kathmandu.
Gaire’s classmate, Shittal Neupane, told CBC News that Balen’s journey from rapper spitting rhymes criticizing prime ministers to possibly being him is “amazing.” Neupane said Thursday’s vote will have to bring change or he and his friends will “run out of words.”
“If this time there will be no change, I will not be disappointed [with] any political party or leader – I will be disappointed [in] citizens of my country,” said another engineering student Samir Singh, 19.
Nepal’s next prime minister? – and young voters are happy
“Everyone in Nepal is as devastated as we are.”
Enthusiasm for Balen is not limited to the younger generation of Nepalis, according to DK Shakya, 72, as he sat chatting with friends one evening in Lalitpur’s Patan Durbar Square, near Kathmandu, before going to the polls.
“We have seen what the old teams have done for us — nothing,” said Shakya. “That’s why we’re going to vote for a bell this time,” he said, referring to Balen’s party with the symbol it uses to help voters identify it on the ballot.
Young people want permanent change
46 percent of Nepalese are under the age of 24, and this week’s vote will show whether their frustration can be channeled into permanent political changes or whether more established parties will maintain their grip on the fragile democracy.
Nepal has a complex electoral system that leads to cycles of weak coalition governments. The country has seen 31 prime ministers in the last 35 years.
The faltering economy and rampant political corruption have also forced hundreds of thousands of Nepali youth to go overseas in search of work, as the country’s youth employment rate is over 20 percent.
“There is a Balen wave,” said Lok Raj Baral, a longtime political scientist at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan University, who is also the Indian ambassador.
“But how long will that wave continue in politics?” Baral asked, pointing out that the party that wins the most votes on Thursday will not be able to secure a strong majority, meaning another coalition government and political competition.
Balen Shah avoided interviews with the media, choosing to talk to his fans on social media. He recently posted a message on Facebook that read “F–k America, F–k India, F–k China,” leading some commentators to wonder if he is ready for high office.
The focus is on the young candidate, and the Rastriya Swatantra Party he has recently joined, as the main opposition to the ruling elite. But several other established political parties are fielding a handful of Gen Z candidates.
All three other major parties were until recently led by septuagenarians who have been taking turns in the prime minister’s job. That is no longer the case for the left-wing Nepali Congress Party, which after an internal dispute elected Gagan Thapa, 49, as party president just weeks before Thursday’s vote.
‘You are shot like a terrorist’
Nepal’s interim government has mobilized some 335,000 troops ahead of election day to ease security concerns. The final results will take a few days to calculate.
Many Nepalis have spent the past few days traveling to their polling stations, including Madan Karki, who traveled east from Kathmandu to Padiguan in Sindhupalchok district.
A 25-year-old suspect was shot in the arm by the police during the protest, leaving his left hand completely injured.
“When I was hit, it was like my heart stopped pumping,” he told CBC News, describing how his friends dragged him, bleeding profusely, to an ambulance. “The sky was spinning and I felt like death was upon me.”
“We were protesting for the country, but we were shot like terrorists,” said Karki.
Karki is angry that the former prime minister, who denied that he ordered the security forces to shoot at the protesters, is running again.
“Oli doesn’t even have the right to contest this election,” said Karki, a videographer by training.
Unable to hold a camera anymore and losing his job as a result, he is now forced to stick to editing. His hand often burns because of the pain and he has to wear a glove to keep it warm because his blood circulation is reduced.
His parents spent tumultuous months worrying about their middle child’s slow recovery.
Karki’s mother, who felt like her life was falling apart when she heard her son was shot, can’t stop thinking about all the mothers who lost their children in the protests.
“I want the people left behind [the violence] they will answer for themselves after the election,” said Juna Karki, 49.
His son was “still not very optimistic” that change would come to Nepal even after Thursday’s vote – especially since many Nepalis are voting for the same party their family has always supported.
“But let’s hope for the best. It may take some time.”
