Nepal - 2025
Nepal prime minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli stepped down 09 September 2025 amid escalating protests sparked by a short-lived social media ban. This quickly grew into widespread unrest targeting his government and allegations of corruption within the country’s political elite. Furious protesters, some of them armed, set the parliament ablaze as security forces targeted them with water cannons after one of the deadliest crackdowns in years in which at least 19 people were killed.
Protesters, mostly young men, were seen waving the country's national flag as they dodged water cannons deployed by the security forces. Other demonstrators targeted the properties of politicians and government buildings. The unrest is the worst in decades in the poor Himalayan country that is wedged between India and China and has struggled with political instability and economic uncertainty since protests led to the abolition of its monarchy in 2008.
Several social media sites – including Facebook, YouTube and X – were blocked on 05 September 2025 in the Himalayan nation of 30 million people, after the government cut access to 26 unregistered platforms. Since then, videos contrasting the struggles of ordinary Nepalis with the children of politicians flaunting luxury goods and expensive vacations had gone viral on TikTok, which was not blocked. The Government lifted a nine-month ban on TikTok last year after the platform agreed to comply with Nepali regulations.
Popular platforms such as Instagram have millions of users in Nepal who rely on them for entertainment, news and business. Others rely on the apps for messaging. "This isn't just about social media – it's about trust, corruption, and a generation that refuses to stay silent," the Kathmandu Post newspaper wrote. "Gen Z grew up with smartphones, global trends, and promises of a federal, prosperous Nepal," it added. "Gen Z grew up with smartphones, global trends, and promises of a federal, prosperous Nepal," it added. "For them, digital freedom is personal freedom. Cutting off access feels like silencing an entire generation."
Organisers of the protests, which spread to other cities in the Himalayan country, have called them "demonstrations by Gen Z", driven by young people's widespread frustration with the government's perceived lack of action to tackle corruption and boost economic opportunities. The protesters set fire to tyres on some roads, threw stones at police personnel in riot gear and chased them through narrow streets, while some looked on and shot videos of the clashes on their mobile phones as thick black smoke rose to the sky. Hundreds of people from some towns located near the India-Nepal border had started marching towards Kathmandu to support the protesters, one of the protesters told Reuters by phone.
The protests, which began on 08 September 2025 with demands that the government lift a ban on social media and tackle corruption, reignited despite the apps going back online. Demonstrators attacked and set fire to KP Sharma Oli's house, the 73-year-old, four-time prime minister and leader of the Communist Party. Shortly after, chanting protesters – some wielding assault rifles – gathered outside main government buildings. Plumes of smoke also covered Nepal's parliament as demonstrators set the building ablaze. "Hundreds have breached the parliament area and torched the main building," Ekram Giri, spokesman for the Parliament Secretariat, told AFP.
The United Nations rights chief voiced alarm at the escalating violence. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk is "appalled by the escalating violence in Nepal", and insists that "dialogue is the best and only way to address the concerns of the Nepalese people", he said in a statement.
Kathmandu's airport remained open, but some flights were cancelled after smoke from fires affected visibility, airport spokesman Rinji Sherpa said. But Kathmandu airport — Nepal's main international gateway — was closed with immediate effect as smoke from fires nearby set by protesters could endanger the safety of aircraft, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said.
"I have resigned from the post of prime minister with effect from today ... in order to take further steps towards a political solution and resolution of the problems," Oli said in a statement. His political career stretched nearly six decades, a period that saw a decade-long civil war, with Nepal abolishing its absolute monarchy in 2008 to become a republic. First elected as prime minister in 2015, he was re-elected in 2018, reappointed briefly in 2021, and then took power in 2024 after his Communist Party forged a coalition government with the centre-left Nepali Congress in the often-volatile parliament. His resignation followed that of three other ministers, and came despite the government repealing the ban.
Bringing social media back online "was among the Gen Z's demands", Minister for Communication Prithvi Subba Gurung told AFP, referring to young people aged largely in their 20s. The ban fed into existing anger at the government in a country with a youth bulge. People aged 15-40 make up nearly 43 percent of the population, according to government statistics – while unemployment hovers around 10 percent and GDP per capita is just $1,447, according to the World Bank.
Constitutional experts say Nepal could face prolonged political chaos unless a national unity government is formed. "There is no clear constitutional provision for what should happen next in such circumstances," said Bipin Adhikari, professor of constitutional law at Kathmandu University. "One viable option is for the president to call for a comprehensive national consensus government. The prime minister should be selected from the parliament, as per the 2015 constitution, while ensuring the demands of Gen Z youths are acknowledged through their representation in this dialogue."
C.D. Bhatta, political scientist and senior program manager at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES) Nepal, said that the credibility of all major political forces in the country "has become irrelevant. ,,, At this point, everyone is trying to capitalize on the situation to lead the government," he told DW. "We have already entered a political and constitutional vacuum.... The situation must now be resolved by the president with the help of the Nepali Army. The only option is to form a civilian government until the next elected government is in place, fully backed by the Nepali army, which remains the only relevant and legitimate force in the country." Adhikari echoed this view. "This government should be backed by the Nepali army, which is currently the only force capable of maintaining law and order," he said.
Widespread nepotism in lucrative government positions is also at the heart of the unrest. Student Bishnu Thapa Chetri told the Associated Press "The country has become so bad that for us youths there are no grounds for us to stay here. Our demand and desire is for peace and an end to corruption so that people can actually work and live back in the country."
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