Hannah Beech
In a resounding affirmation of Gen Z’s power to overthrow the political old guard, Nepali voters have handed a commanding majority to a party headlined by a 35-year-old ex-rapper.
Partial results of the election released on Sunday gave the party of Balendra Shah, the onetime rap artist and former mayor of the country’s capital, Kathmandu, 100 out of 165 directly elected parliamentary seats. It is shaping up to be the biggest landslide in Nepal’s modern electoral history.
The election on Thursday was the first since a youth-led uprising last year toppled a government that was seen as corrupt and untouchable. In September, security forces killed 19 people who were protesting political impunity and a social media ban. Hours later, Nepal descended into chaos, with dozens more dying and thousands of buildings burned nationwide in a campaign of mass arson. K.P. Sharma Oli, the prime minister, was ousted. Gen Z claimed its first political revolution.
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