Former Nepal PM K.P. Sharma Oli arrested over last year’s Gen Z protests

Former Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli was arrested on Saturday in connection with the Gen Z protests that led to the collapse of his government in last September. Former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak has also been taken into custody.

The arrests came just a day after rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as Prime Minister on Friday after winning the March 5 parliamentary elections.

According to reports, the arrests were made based on a panel’s recommendation to prosecute Oli for allegedly failing to prevent the crackdown on the protests, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of people.

Min Bahadur Shahi, a senior leader of Oli’s Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), told Reuters that Oli was taken into custody from his residence this morning.

“A promise is a promise,” Prime Minister Shah wrote on X soon after Oli’s arrest.

“We have taken former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and outgoing Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak under control. This is not revenge against anyone; it is just the beginning of justice. I believe that now the country will take a new direction,” he said.

The coalition government led by Oli collapsed following youth-led Gen Z protests against corruption, nepotism, and a social media ban. The demonstrations escalated into violence on September 8 and 9, leaving more than 70 people dead.

Following Oli’s ouster, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki assumed office as interim prime minister on the recommendation of the Gen Z movement.

In the March 5 general elections, Balendra “Balen” Shah defeated Oli—a four-time prime minister—by a wide margin in the Jhapa-5 constituency, a long-standing stronghold of the CPN-UML.