More than 50 people were killed in mass protests that saw Singha Durbar burned; eight major parties now say the president must reinstate the dissolved House of Representatives. Tensions continue as Nepal prepares for fresh elections and reconstruction
Protesters set fire to Nepal’s parliament complex and clashed with police this week, leaving the country reeling as political leaders demand a rapid return to constitutional order.
More than 50 people were killed during mass demonstrations that began after the government moved to ban 26 social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook. The protest wave — fuelled also by a viral “nepo kid” campaign that spotlighted allegations of elite privilege and corruption — quickly broadened into a wider Gen Z-led movement calling for major political change.
On Friday President Ram Chandra Poudel dissolved the House of Representatives at the recommendation of newly appointed interim prime minister Sushila Karki. Karki, a 73-year-old former Supreme Court chief justice and the country’s first female prime minister, was sworn in during a brief ceremony in Kathmandu and is expected to name ministers in the days ahead.
The president’s move, however, has provoked an immediate political backlash. Eight of Nepal’s major parties — including the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and the Maoist Centre — issued a joint statement saying the dissolution was unconstitutional and urging that the House be reinstated. The statement, signed by the parties’ chief whips, argued that protesters’ demands and the announced election date of 5 March should be addressed through institutions elected by the people rather than by dissolving parliament.
President Poudel urged restraint in a public statement, saying the constitution and parliamentary system remain intact and calling for calm as the country moves toward fresh elections. “The constitution is alive, the parliamentary system is alive and the federal democratic republic still exists,” he said, adding that elections within six months offer an opportunity to restore an “efficient democracy.”
The unrest reached a peak when crowds stormed the Singha Durbar palace — the complex that houses both parliament and key government offices — setting buildings alight and forcing then-prime minister KP Sharma Oli to resign. In the days since, security forces were deployed to restore order; soldiers who had been patrolling Kathmandu streets returned to their bases after Karki’s oath.
Karki’s interim government faces multiple immediate tasks: restoring law and order; reconstructing the heavily damaged parliamentary and administrative buildings; reassuring protesters who demand systemic reform while calming those fearful of constitutional breakdown; and holding those responsible for the violence to account.
The government has already lifted the social-media ban, but by then the protest movement had grown into a broader eruption of public anger that is unlikely to subside quickly. Observers will be watching whether President Poudel accedes to calls to reinstate the dissolved House, how the interim cabinet is formed, and whether the scheduled 5 March elections proceed amid fragile security and deep political divisions.
