In his 35 years, Balendra Shah has been a rapper, a mayor, an engineer and an unswerving fan of rectangular sunglasses. He is now on the brink of becoming Nepal’s youngest-ever prime minister after his party scored a landslide victory in elections last week.

现年35岁的巴伦德拉·沙阿是一名说唱歌手、市长、工程师，还是矩形墨镜的忠实拥趸。在上周的选举中，他领导的政党取得了压倒性胜利，使他即将成为尼泊尔历史上最年轻的总理。

The vote was the first since a Gen Z-led uprising last year overthrew a government that many Nepalis viewed as corrupt and out of touch. The Rastriya Swatantra Party, a young political force that positioned itself as the inheritor of the Gen Z revolution, received the largest mandate in Nepal’s modern electoral history, winning a significant majority of 275 parliamentary seats, according to official results released on Tuesday. Mr. Shah, a millennial with an often aggressive and aggrieved style on social media, is its pick to lead Nepal.

去年，一场由“Z世代”领导的起义推翻了被视为腐败且脱离群众的旧政府，本次投票正是该事件后的首次大选。周二公布的官方结果显示，以这场革命的继承者自居的政治新兴力量——国家自由党获得了尼泊尔现代选举史上最广泛的授权，赢得了议会275个席位中的绝对多数。该党推举的领导人沙阿是一名千禧一代，他在社交媒体上以激进且充满“愤青”色彩的风格著称。

Why did people vote for him?

为什么选民会投给他？

Technically, Nepal’s electorate picked the R.S.P. But many Nepalis did not cast their ballots last Thursday for a party; they voted for Balen, as Mr. Shah is popularly known.

理论上尼泊尔选民选择的是国家自由党。但上周四，许多选民投票并非为了政党，而是为了“巴伦”(Balen)——这是民众对沙阿的亲昵称呼。

“People are saying, ‘Balen is a savior for Nepal,’” said Sanjeev Humagain, a political scientist at Nepal Open University. “They’re saying, in a populist way, that he’s a god.”

尼泊尔公开大学的政治学者桑吉夫·胡马盖表示：“人们在说‘巴伦是尼泊尔的救世主’。从民粹主义的角度来看，他们几乎把他神化了。”

上周选举日，选民们在加德满都的巴桑塔布尔杜巴广场排队。

A socially conscious rapper, Mr. Shah has prided himself in not being bound to Nepal’s political establishment. Four years ago, he successfully ran as an independent for mayor of Kathmandu, the nation’s capital. He cultivated an image of a politician who got things done — tackling waste management, improving education and delivering health care — precisely because he wasn’t beholden to the ossified hierarchy of party politics.

作为一名具有社会意识的说唱歌手，沙阿一直以不依附于尼泊尔政治权贵而自豪。四年前，他以独立候选人身份成功当选首都加德满都的市长。他塑造了一个“实干派”政治家的形象：治理垃圾问题、改善教育、提供医疗服务——而这一切之所以能实现，恰恰是因为他不受制于僵化的政党等级制度。

As mayor, Mr. Shah lent early support to the Gen Z protesters, who had gathered peacefully in Kathmandu in September to condemn corruption and nepotism, as well as a sweeping social media ban. The protests quickly descended into violence when security forces killed unarmed young people. Mr. Shah branded K.P. Sharma Oli, who was prime minister during the fatal crackdown, a “terrorist.” Mr. Oli soon resigned, and the government collapsed.

担任市长期间，沙阿早期曾支持“Z世代”抗议者。去年9月，年轻人们在加德满都和平集会，谴责腐败、裙带关系以及政府对社交媒体的全面封杀。随后，安全部队杀害手无寸铁的青年的行为，令抗议迅速演变为暴力冲突。沙阿公开称时任总理奥利为“恐怖分子”。不久后，奥利辞职，政府垮台。

After the elections were called, Mr. Shah chose to fight for the seat in Parliament that Mr. Oli, four decades his senior, had long held. He won with more than three-and-a-half times the number of votes.

宣布大选后，沙阿选择挑战奥利长期把持的议会席位。尽管奥利比他年长40岁，沙阿最终仍以超过对方3.5倍的票数胜出。

What is Balen’s vibe?

“巴伦”的风格是什么样的？

Punchy and volatile. But also a bit mysterious. He hides his expression behind his signature rectangular sunglasses, which he insists on wearing indoors.

犀利、多变，且带着一丝神秘。他总是躲在标志性的矩形墨镜后面，甚至在室内也坚持佩戴。

Mr. Shah rarely gives news conferences or media interviews. Instead, he communicates through social media, where his reach is unmatched by other Nepali celebrities; he has 3.7 million followers on Facebook, in a nation of 30 million people.

沙阿很少举行新闻发布会或接受媒体采访。相反，他通过社交媒体发声，其影响力令尼泊尔其他名人望尘莫及：在这个拥有3000万人口的国家，他的Facebook粉丝数高达370万。

He has railed against the three big nations — the United States, China and India — and the three big Nepali political parties that for years had a stranglehold on the country’s politics. And, before he joined it in January, he also venomously criticized the R.S.P.

他曾炮轰中美印三大国，也抨击过多年来把持国家政治的三大尼泊尔政党。甚至在今年1月加入国家自由党之前，他对如今所属的政党也进行过尖刻的批评。

“All politicians, new and old, are thieves,” he wrote on social media.

他曾在社交媒体上写道：“所有的政治家，无论新旧，全是小偷。”

国家自由党获得了尼泊尔现代选举史上最广泛的民意授权。

Mr. Shah has expressed admiration for the managerial acumen of dictators like Hitler and ranted on social media about perceived slights — a hair trigger reflex that may not work when he assumes leadership of Nepal.

沙阿曾表达过对希特勒等独裁者管理手腕的钦佩，并常在社交媒体上针对他认为的“冒犯”进行还击。这种“一点就着”的反应，在他接掌国家领导权后可能并不适用。

What is his music like?

他的音乐作品如何？

A poet who learned to style his verse to a beat, Mr. Shah is a troubadour of the streets. Although he grew up comfortably as the son of a traditional medicine doctor, he wrote lyrics that championed the underdog and decried the powerful, in the mold of his inspirations, Tupac Shakur and 50 Cent.

作为一位擅长将诗句融入节奏的诗人，沙阿是街头的吟唱者。尽管出身于传统医生家庭，成长环境优渥，但他创作的歌词多为弱势群体发声，谴责权贵。他的灵感源自2Pac和50 Cent等偶像。

In a country dominated by the Himalayas, Mr. Shah is on track to be the first prime minister of Nepal considered a son of Madhesh, the lowland province bordering India. People from the southern plains, who make up more than half the nation’s population, have long felt like second-class citizens.

在这个以喜马拉雅山区为主的国家，沙阿有望成为首位被视为“马德西之子”的总理。马德西是接壤印度的平原省份，那里的人口占全国一半以上，却长期感觉自己像二等公民。

One of Mr. Shah’s songs, released this year, expresses his sympathies to Nepalis, many of them from the lowlands, who by the millions work overseas because of official corruption that stymies their job opportunities at home.

沙阿今年发布的一首歌表达了对低地同胞的同情。由于官方腐败阻碍了国内就业，数百万尼泊尔人不得不远赴海外务工。

“Money seems to grow on trees for those who sell their integrity, those who step on others, those who are selfish, those who write lies, those who oppress,” the song goes.

歌词写道：“对那些出卖廉耻的人，踩着他人上位的人，自私的人，编造谎言的人，压迫他人的人，钱似乎长在树上。”

What kind of leader will he be?

他会成为什么样的领导人？

As mayor of Kathmandu, Mr. Shah often acted first and figured out the procedural niceties later. He tried to bulldoze a squatter settlement that he found unbecoming. To make a point about slow road construction, he ordered a dump truck to deposit trash in front of the Department of Roads.

在担任加德满都市长期间，沙阿经常“先斩后奏”。他曾试图强拆他认为影响市容的贫民窟；为了抗议道路建设进度缓慢，他曾命令翻斗车直接将垃圾倾倒在道路局门前。

2022年，时任加德满都市长沙阿视察首都的一处下水道施工现场。

Mr. Shah reserved power for a small coterie of aides who dedicated themselves to ripping up red tape while icing out other bureaucrats.

沙阿习惯将权力保留在由一小撮亲信组成的圈子里，他们致力于打破繁琐的行政程序，同时也将其他官僚排挤在外。

As leader of Nepal, Mr. Shah will have to be more flexible. Although his party has a large majority in the lower house, it doesn’t have a single seat in the upper house, making passing major legislation tough.

作为尼泊尔的领导人，沙阿必须变得更加灵活。尽管他的政党在众议院拥有多数席位，但在参议院却未获一席，这将使重大立法的通过变得困难重重。

“We have a lot of problems in Nepal,” said Mr. Humagain, the political scientist. “One man, even Balen, is going to have learn a lot about compromise, communication and teamwork.”

政治学者胡马盖指出：“尼泊尔面临许多问题。即便是一个像巴伦这样的人，也必须在妥协、沟通与团队协作方面多学习。”