Nepal's rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as prime minister of Nepal on Friday, tasked with restoring political stability and creating jobs in the poor Himalayan nation long troubled by fragile governments and weak growth prospects.
Shah is Nepal's youngest prime minister in decades and the first Madhesi—people of the southern plains bordering India—to lead the Himalayan nation that is wedged between Asian giants India and China.
A former mayor of the capital, Kathmandu, became prime minister after his three-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) won 182 seats in the 275-member parliament in the March 5 election, the first vote after the anti-corruption Gen Z protests in which 76 people were killed in September last year.
The 35-year-old youth-led politician stressed patriotism and optimism for a bright future for Nepal.
“Nepal is not scared this time; the heart is full of red blood ... laughter and happiness will reach every household this time,” Shah sang in the video featuring visuals of large crowds cheering him during his election campaign.
After being sworn in, Shah picked 14 members for his cabinet, keeping his campaign promise of having a small team to cut state expenses.
He named Swarnim Wagle, a Harvard-educated economist, as finance minister for his cabinet.
Key challenges for Nepal's newly elected PM Balendra Shah:
“The first test of the new government lies in transparent and prompt delivery of services to people, who expect early signs of good governance," said political analyst Puranjan Acharya.
Acharya said Shah’s early challenge is to implement the report of a panel that investigated the violence during the anti-corruption protests, a key demand of the families of the victims.
He also recommended the prosecution of those responsible for the crackdown, including then Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.
Indian Prime Minister Modi also congratulated the newly elected Nepali PM.
Modi expressed through a social media post, "I look forward to working closely with you to take India-Nepal friendship and cooperation to even greater heights for the mutual benefit of our two peoples."
The new regime change happened after youth-led protests were fueled by a lack of jobs and endemic corruption in the country of 30 million people, where a fifth of the population lives in poverty and an estimated 1,500 people leave the country daily for work abroad.
Political instability has been a bane, with 32 governments taking office since 1990 and none of them completing a five-year term.
