Kathmandu Gen Z protests: Will Nepal PM Oli resign as ministers quit over deadly crackdown on protesters?
At least 19 people, who were mostly students and youngsters, were shot dead and hundreds were injured by Nepal police after a crackdown on the anti-corruption protests in Kathmandu. The protests by members of the Z had come out of long-time frustration with the alleged corruption in the government and were triggered by the recent social media ban by Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.
The Nepal PM reacted to the protests and blamed the "ambiguity between the thinking" of the generation for the “unpleasant situation.”
He then later claimed that the government was "not in favour of stopping the use of social media and there was no need to keep demonstrating for this.” The country has now lifted the ban on social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, X and others. The PM also blamed “infiltrating groups” for the violence on Monday, shirking responsibility, the Kathmandu Post reported.
Prithivi Subba Gurung, Nepal's Minister for Communication, Information and Technology said that "the Prime Minister will not resign now," as the government tried to continue to defend the ban.
Nepal's Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak resigned on Monday following the protests. The following day, Minister for Agriculture and Livestock Development Ramnath Adhikari quit his post, citing the government's ‘authoritarian response’ toward the protesters.
Meanwhile, opposition parties and parties in the ruling coalition are calling for the Prime Minister to step down. Nepali Congress General Secretary Gagan Thapa asked the PM Oli to step down and take moral responsibility for the deaths of the 19 protesters. “Innocent youths have been killed unnecessarily. The prime minister must take responsibility for this suppression and step down immediately,” he said
The Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) has also demanded that the PM step down and called for fresh elections, and said that the current government has lost its legitimacy. RSP General Secretary Kabindra Burlakoticondemned the way the government handled the protests on Monday in a statement. “The relevance of the current government has completely ended. We demand the prime minister’s immediate resignation. A high-level judicial probe commission should be formed to investigate the incident and take stern action against the home minister and all others responsible,” Burlakoti said.
The RSP said, “People will not accept efforts to extend misrule by shedding the blood of their own children. This authoritarian rule will be met with mass resistance.”
Prime Minister Oli is serving his fourth term
PM Oli is currently serving the fourth term in the Himalayan country. In 2020, the Oli government had reshuffled the cabinent after there was calls for his resignaton. In May 2020, party members called for his resignation after a ‘cartographic war’ broke out between India and Nepal over a new map that was unveiled by the Oli government, claiming disputed territories like Kalapani, Lipulekh, and Limpiyadhura, after a road was inaugurated in the Lipulekh pass by the neigbour.
In December the same year, he asked the president to dissolve the parliament, saying that the party was not letting him work as PM. The dissolution was declared unconstitutional.
Gen Z protesters have taken to the streets for a second time on Tuesday after the widespread violent crackdowns by police.
Besides lifting the ban on social media, The protesters have put forward three other demands—the resignation of the prime minister, whom they say is unfit to lead; a ban on those leaders who have been tested and failed multiple times from returning to public office; and the establishment of an independent, transparent and impartial watchdog body similar to an ombudsman, to hold officials accountable for corruption, abuse of power, and injustice.
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