New Slate for Nepal

In Nepal, the three-year-old Rastriya Swatantra Party or RSP, led by Balendra Shah, decisively won 182 of 275 seats in the lower house of Parliament in the March 5th election. Shah, a 35-year-old former civil engineer and hip-hop artist known as “Balen,” was previously Kathmandu’s first independent mayor and is now expected to become Nepal’s Prime Minister. The reason for the March 5th election was last year's youth-led uprising against corruption, incompetence and nepotism that spread throughout Nepal and led to the overthrow of the government in September. Stephen Mikesell, long-time WORT volunteer, retired to Nepal just in time to have a front row seat for these events and reports to us from his home near Kathmandu. The Wire election discussion with Himal Southasian founder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FivNEfQq2OM The Wire election discussion with former Indian ambassador to Nepal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7DK9EumjFg BBC election coverage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Xbvd9yzy4 Official Photo by RSP Campaign