"Shah, widely known simply as Balen, himself on Saturday defeated the veteran four-time Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli whose Marxist-led government was ousted in the protests last year in his own seat in a southeastern district, securing almost four times as many votes as Oli. His victory over the 74-year-old Oli, and his rise from the capital Kathmandu's mayor to potential prime minister, marks one of the most dramatic results in recent Nepali politics."
"He highlighted health and education for poor Nepalis as a key focus of his campaign, which rode a wave of public anger towards traditional political parties. He said the vote reflected his refusal to take the easy way out and signalled a reckoning with the problems and betrayals that have affected the country."
"Nepal's centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) of rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah has secured a majority in the direct parliamentary elections and is heading for a landslide, according to official results and election commission trends. The 35-year-old's RSP party was also leading in proportional representation vote, according to results declared until early Sunday, in the country's first election since last year's youth-led uprising which toppled the government."
Nepal's Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), led by rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah, achieved a landslide victory in parliamentary elections held Thursday, securing a majority in the 275-member House of Representatives. Shah, age 35, defeated veteran four-time Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli by nearly four times the vote margin in his own constituency. The RSP won 60 of 165 directly elected seats and led in 61 additional constituencies. The election followed last year's youth-led uprising that toppled the previous Marxist-led government. Shah's campaign focused on health and education for poor Nepalis, capitalizing on public anger toward traditional political parties. His rise from Kathmandu's mayor to potential prime minister represents one of Nepal's most dramatic recent political shifts.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]