Katmandu: Nepal’s interim leader has held the first talks between political parties and youth representatives since last month’s anti-corruption protests that toppled the previous government, officials said on Thursday.
“We have succeeded in creating an environment of cooperation and trust by ending the state of lack of dialogue,” Prime Minister Sushila Karki, the former chief justice appointed as interim leader, said in a statement on social media.
The unrest on September 8-9 was triggered by a brief ban on social media, although it was fueled by long-standing frustration over economic hardship and corruption.
At least 73 people were killed during the two days of unrest, which left parliament, courts and government buildings in flames.
Karki, 73, who will lead the Himalayan nation until elections, held a four-hour meeting with youth representatives on Wednesday, according to her media coordinator Ram Rawal.
The challenges ahead to ensure the March 2026 elections pass off smoothly are huge — including deep public distrust in Nepal’s established parties.
The meeting, headed by Karki, was attended by all major political parties and several “Gen Z” representatives, Rawal said.
Also included were representatives of the party of ousted former prime minister KP Sharma Oli, the Communist Party of Nepal — Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML).
“After the protest, there was a trust gap between them,” Rawal told AFP. “This meeting has helped create an environment of trust for the upcoming elections.”
Karki said in a post on X that “the new generation, political parties and the government all have the same goal — to hold fair, secure and timely elections.”
She has pledged to restore order and address calls for clean governance in the country of 30 million.
Minister for Communication Jagadish Kharel told reporters after the meeting that it was “important and fruitful.”
The unrest in September hit Nepal’s already fragile economy. The World Bank estimates a “staggering” 82 percent of the workforce is in informal employment, while GDP per capita stood at just $1,447 in 2024.
Nepal PM holds first talks since protests with parties and ‘Gen Z’
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Nepal PM holds first talks since protests with parties and ‘Gen Z’
- Nepal’s interim leader has held the first talks between political parties and youth representatives
South Sudan officers face court martial over civilian massacre
- The increasingly unstable country is seeing a surge of fighting between government and opposition forces
JUBA: South Sudanese soldiers, including two officers, will face a court martial over a civilian massacre last month, the army spokesman said Wednesday.
The increasingly unstable country is seeing a surge of fighting between government and opposition forces, much of it in eastern Jonglei state where at least 280,000 people have been displaced since December according to the UN.
At least 25 civilians, including women and children, were killed in Ayod County in Jonglei state on February 21, according to the opposition.
Army spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said that two officers, including a major, and several non-commissioned officers, had been arrested and would face charges in the capital Juba, “before they are arraigned before a competent military court martial.”
He said the deaths were attributed to “some elements” under Gen. Johnson Olony, who was filmed in January ordering troops to “spare no lives” in Jonglei.
Koang said the soldiers had “moved out without the knowledge or authorization of the division commander.”
He also said they had been part of a militia group allied to opposition forces, parts of which had not yet been fully integrated into the army.
Military integration was among the core principles of a peace agreement that ended South Sudan’s five-year civil war in 2018 between President Salva Kiir and his long-time rival, Riek Machar, but it was never implemented.
Koang said the army regretted the loss of lives, adding: “We would like to once again remind our forces that their mandate is to protect civilians and their property, not to do the opposite.”
It followed an impassioned plea from the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference on recent civilian killings — in Ayod, and also in Abiemnom County near the Sudan border where at least 169 people were killed on Sunday.
“We implore you to deploy resources to protect vulnerable populations and foster a climate of dialogue and reconciliation instead of violence and revenge, consoling the bereaved and supporting the afflicted,” it said in a statement.
