KATHMANDU: Nepal is witnessing a political transformation of historic proportions. The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) is on course to win the country's general election by a landslide, having secured 36 seats outright and leading in 83 more out of 161 constituencies declared so far, according to the Election Commission of Nepal.

If the leads hold, the RSP would finish with 119 of 165 seats in the House of Representatives — a result without precedent in Nepal's modern democratic history.

The party, which rose to national prominence on the back of the Gen Z movement that swept Nepal's cities last September, has dismantled the dominance of parties that have governed the Himalayan nation since the restoration of democracy. The Nepali Congress — one of Nepal's oldest and most powerful parties — has won just 5 seats and leads in 11. The CPN-UML, led by former prime minister KP Sharma Oli, has won 2 and leads in 8. The Nepali Communist Party has won 1 and leads in 8.

Among the most watched results is Jhapa Constituency-5, where RSP's Balendra Shah — the popular incumbent Mayor of Kathmandu, known widely as Balen — has built a lead of more than 52,000 votes over Oli, the CPN-UML president and one of Nepal's most powerful political figures. The result, when formally declared, would rank among the most dramatic upsets in the country's electoral history.

Nepal, home to eight of the world's ten highest mountains including Mount Everest, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year for trekking, mountaineering and cultural tourism. The country has in recent years been working to diversify its tourism offerings and position itself as a year-round destination. Political stability has long been cited by tourism industry stakeholders as essential to sustaining investor confidence and long-term growth in the sector.

Four constituencies are yet to report. Formal declarations by returning officers are ongoing across the country.