PM Oli resigns under pressure as Gen Z protests turn violent

KATHMANDU: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has tendered his resignation as prime minister to President Ramchandra Paudel after Gen-Z protests turned violent, with protesters vandalising ministerial residences and launching an arson attack on ministers’ quarters.

He resigned after opposition parties and his coalition partner, the Nepali Congress, urged him to step down and called on its ministers to leave the government to pave the way for a new national consensus.

At least 19 people died nationwide during Monday’s Gen-Z protests, and 347 were injured.

The demonstrations, originally focused on exposing high-level corruption, quickly broadened to include calls for the repeal of recent social-media restrictions, job creation, youth empowerment, a reduction in economic inequality and a more transparent and accountable government.

Today, people took to the streets and major intersections in reaction to the shooting of youths and the use of extreme force by authorities during Monday’s Gen-Z protests. They burned tyres and chanted slogans against the government and Prime Minister Oli, defying a curfew imposed by the authorities.

The security situation descended into chaos as protesters, joined by others, stormed Singha Durbar and several ministers’ quarters, forcing ministers to flee to safety under the protection of the Nepali Army’s Bhairab Battalion by helicopter.

In an appeal issued today, Oli expressed regret over the demonstrations that took place in the capital and elsewhere on Monday and the subsequent incidents.