Nepal’s youngest prime minister, Balendra Shah, takes oath of office

Balendra Shah was appointed prime minister by President Ram Chandra Paudel Friday after his Rastriya Swatantra Party won nearly two-thirds of the seats in the House of Representatives, the lower chamber of parliament, in the March 5 polls.

Shah, the 35-year-old political outsider widely known as Balen, will lead a government tasked with navigating deep public frustration with Nepal’s established parties, who were widely blamed by voters for corruption and chronic political instability.

The elaborate swearing-in ceremony was to include Hindu rituals, such as the “shankhnaad” or blowing of conches, and religious chanting by Hindu priests and Buddhist lamas.