THE nation’s rapper-turned-prime minister swept to power six months ago on a wave of youth-led anti-corruption protests, buoyed by optimism for change.
Now Balendra Shah (pic) faces his biggest test as his country’s leader after a catastrophic flood on the China-Nepal border killed more than 1,400 people and left thousands missing.
The disaster has pushed climate diplomacy to the centre of the 36-year-old’s premiership, overshadowing the anti-corruption agenda that powered his rise to office.
He is due to address the United Nations General Assembly this week, using his first foreign trip as prime minister to press Nepal’s case for greater international support to recover from a disaster scientists have linked to climate change.
He has called the “unimaginable and heartbreaking” flood “not an ordinary” event, warning that it demonstrates the growing dangers facing communities across the Himalayas.
“It is now time for us to strongly raise with the international community the issue of the disasters we are experiencing as a result of climate change,” he said after visiting affected areas last month.
The tsunami-like floodwaters tore through mountain districts, destroying roads, bridges and hydropower projects while killing at least 1,494 people in Nepal and China’s Tibet region. More than 6,000 people remain missing.
Shah has warned the disaster shows “that the risks we face in the Himalayan region are increasing alongside climate change”.
Nepal, a country of around 30 million people that contributes only a fraction of global greenhouse-gas emissions, estimates reconstruction will cost billions.
Better known as Balen, the ex-music star – often seen in a sharp black suit and sunglasses –celebrated his March election victory with a song declaring that “unity is my national power”.
He unseated veteran Marxist leader and four-time prime minister KP Sharma Oli in his own constituency, with the centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party winning a landslide parliamentary majority. — AFP
