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Nepal’s prime minister resigned Tuesday after protesters set fire to homes of the country’s top political leaders during violent demonstrations against a ban on social media platforms and government corruption.
The departure of Khadga Prasad Oli comes a day after police opened fire on the protesters, killing 19 in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu.
“In view of the adverse situation in the country, I have resigned effective today to facilitate the solution to the problem and to help resolve it politically in accordance with the constitution,” Oli wrote in his resignation letter to President Ram Chandra Poudel, according to Reuters.
Poudel’s home was among those set on fire. Properties belonging to Sher Bahadur Deuba, the leader of the largest party in the Nepali Congress, Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and Maoist Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal, were also targeted in the blazes.
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Witnesses told local media that some government ministers were airlifted to safety by military helicopters, while Kathmandu’s main airport was shut down Tuesday due to smoke from the nearby fires, Reuters reported.
The violence unfolded as Nepal’s government pursued a broader attempt to regulate social media with a bill aimed at ensuring the platforms are “properly managed, responsible and accountable.”
Several widely used social networks, including Facebook, X and YouTube, were blocked in Nepal last week after failing to comply with a new requirement to register and submit to government oversight.
The ban, which had been widely criticized as a tool for censorship and for punishing government opponents who voice their protests online, was lifted early Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
A curfew has been imposed in the capital and other cities, and schools in Kathmandu were closed. However, demonstrations are still ongoing, and protesters were seen throwing stones at police in riot gear, according to Reuters.
“Punish the murders in government. Stop killing children,” the protesters reportedly chanted on Tuesday while police used loudspeakers urging them to return home.
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Oli, 73, was sworn in last July for his fourth term in office.
In the hours leading up to his resignation Tuesday, he called for a meeting of political parties and said “we have to resort to peaceful dialogue to find solutions to any problem,” according to Reuters.
Nepal’s Army said Oli’s resignation was accepted and shared a statement on X, adding: “We sincerely urge all citizens to exercise restraint to prevent further loss of life and property in this critical situation.”
Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak also resigned at an emergency Cabinet meeting late Monday.
The mass demonstrations and attack on parliament Monday – which was called the protest of Gen Z – began as opposition to the ban on social media platforms but were fueled by growing frustration and dissatisfaction against the political parties among the people who blame them for corruption, the AP reported.
“I am here to protest about the massive corruption in our country,” Bishnu Thapa Chetri, a student, told the news agency. “The country has gotten so bad that for us youths – there [are] no grounds for us to stay back in the country.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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