In Nepal, a former rapper wants to be the next prime minister — and young voters are excited

The truck carrying Nepali prime ministerial candidate Balendra Shah was swarmed by cheering supporters in the capital, Kathmandu, on Saturday, unable to inch forward as the former rapper, wearing sunglasses and a sleek black suit, danced on top of the roof. 

As Nepalis head to the polls on Thursday in the first election since a Gen Z revolution last September toppled the previous government, the campaign of the one-time musician turned Kathmandu mayor has galvanized the electorate, with many young voters hoping Shah will defeat politicians belonging to the South Asian country’s old guard.

“He’s a modern person and he relates to most of us in our generation,” said Sirjana Gaire, a 20-year-old civil engineering student. “He understands how we want the world to see Nepal.”

The main political showdown in this election — which could reshape Nepal’s politics for years to come — is playing out in the eastern Jhapa district, where the 35-year-old former rapper, known simply as Balen, is facing off against the prime minister ousted by Gen Z protesters last fall. 

KP Sharma Oli — who heads the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), known as UML — has been Nepal’s prime minister four times and is running again, despite the fact the 74-year-old was forced to resign six months ago, after anger against government corruption, nepotism and economic disparity exploded onto the streets.

The uprising began over a social media ban but tapped into deep-seated frustration with Nepal’s political corruption and instability, particularly after security forces met protesters with live fire and tear gas. More than 70 people were killed and hundreds more injured in the two-day revolution that left many of the country’s symbols of power, including the parliament building and Supreme Court, charred and burned.

Oli’s campaign this time around has been dominated by smaller gatherings with dedicated supporters in his district.

“The Gen Z protesters will not build up our country,” said Bishnu Prasad Sedai, 72. “We have to help KP Oli win. We only trust him, we don’t trust the other one,” he added, referring to Balen.  

That sentiment is harder to find in Kathmandu.

Gaire’s classmate, Shittal Neupane, told CBC News that Balen’s journey from a rapper spitting rhymes criticizing prime ministers to potentially becoming one himself was “amazing.” Neupane said that Thursday’s vote would have to bring about change or else he and his friends would “be speechless.”

“If this time there won’t be change, I won’t be disappointed [with] any political party or leader — I will be disappointed [in] the citizens of my country,” said fellow engineering student Samir Singh, 19. 

“Everyone in Nepal is as frustrated as we are.” 

The enthusiasm for Balen isn’t confined to Nepali’s younger generation, according to DK Shakya, 72, as he sat chatting with his friends one evening in Lalitpur’s Patan Durbar Square, near Kathmandu, before going to the polls. 

“We’ve already seen what the old parties have done for us — nothing,” Shakya said. “That’s why we will vote for the bell this time,” he said, referring to Balen’s party by the symbol it uses to help voters identify it on the ballot. 

Young people seek lasting change

Forty-six per cent of Nepal’s population is below the age of 24, and this week’s vote will show whether their frustration can be channeled into lasting political change or whether more established parties will maintain their hold on the country’s fragile democracy. 

Nepal has a complicated electoral system that results in cycles of weak coalition governments. The country has seen 31 prime ministers in the last 35 years. 

An ailing economy and rampant political corruption have also forced hundreds of thousands of young Nepalis to move overseas for work, as the country’s youth employment rate sits at more than 20 per cent. 

“There is a Balen wave,” said Lok Raj Baral, a longtime political scientist at Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan University, who is also a former ambassador to India. 

“But how far will that wave continue in politics?” Baral asked, pointing out that the party that wins the most votes on Thursday would be unlikely to secure a strong majority, meaning another coalition government and political jockeying. 

Balen Shah has avoided press interviews, preferring to speak to his followers on social media. He recently posted a message to Facebook saying “F–k America, F–k India, F–k China,” leading some analysts to question whether he is ready for high office.

Much attention has been focused on the young candidate, and the Rastriya Swatantra Party he recently joined, as key challengers to the ruling elite. But several other established political parties are fielding only a handful of Gen Z candidates. 

All three of the other main parties were until recently led by septuagenarians who had traded turns in the prime minister’s job. That’s no longer the case for the centre-left Nepali Congress Party, which after an internal battle elected Gagan Thapa, 49, as party president weeks before Thursday’s vote. 

‘Shot like terrorists’

Nepal’s interim government has mobilized some 335,000 security forces ahead of election day to allay worries about security. Final results will take several days to count.  

Many Nepalis have spent the last few days travelling to their villages to cast their ballots, including Madan Karki, who journeyed east from Kathmandu to Padiguan in Sindhupalchok district. 

The 25-year-old was shot in the arm by police during the protests, leaving permanent nerve damage in his left hand.

“When I first got hit, it felt like my heart stopped pumping,” he told CBC News, explaining 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,” Karki said.   

Karki is outraged that the former prime minister, who has denied giving orders for security forces to fire on the demonstrators, is running again.

“Oli doesn’t even have the moral right to stand in this election,” said Karki, who is a videographer by training. 

He can no longer hold a camera and has lost work as a result, forced now to stick to editing. His hand frequently burns in pain and he has to wear a glove to keep it warm because his circulation is weak. 

His parents have spent a tumultuous few months worrying about their middle child’s slow recovery. 

Karki’s mother, who felt like her life crumbled when she heard her son was shot, can’t stop thinking about all the mothers who lost their children in the protests. 

“I demand that the people who are behind [the violence] be held accountable after the elections,” Juna Karki, 49, said. 

Her son was “still not so optimistic” that change would come to Nepal even after Thursday’s polls — especially since many Nepalis vote for the same party their family has always supported. 

“But let’s hope for the best. It might take some time.”