Nepal schedules March elections following appointment of interim prime minister

KATHMANDU, Sept 13 — Nepal’s President Ramchandra Paudel has dissolved parliament and set fresh elections for March 5, his office announced yesterday, following a week of deadly unrest that led to the appointment of the country’s first female interim prime minister.

The announcement came just hours after Paudel named former Chief Justice Sushila Karki to head the interim government, succeeding Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who resigned amid the “Gen Z”-driven anti-corruption protests.

According to a statement from the president’s office, the House of Representatives was dissolved and elections fixed for March 5, 2026.

Karki’s appointment followed two days of intense negotiations involving Paudel, army chief Ashok Raj Sigdel, and protest leaders after Nepal’s worst violence in years, which left at least 51 people dead and over 1,300 injured.

India, Nepal’s southern neighbour, expressed hope that the political shift would bring peace and stability.

“Heartfelt congratulations to Honourable Sushila Karki Ji on assuming the office of interim Prime Minister of Nepal. India remains fully committed to the peace, progress and prosperity of the people of Nepal,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on X.

The nationwide protests were triggered by a controversial social media ban, later reversed, and only calmed after Oli’s resignation on Tuesday.

Since the abolition of its monarchy in 2008, Nepal has struggled with political and economic instability, while limited opportunities at home have driven millions of young citizens to seek work abroad, particularly in the Middle East, South Korea and Malaysia.

By yesterday, the country of 30 million, nestled between China and India, had begun to return to normal — with shops reopening, cars back on the roads, and police trading their firearms for batons. — Reuters