Curfew lifted, Nepal elections on March 5

Nepal’s next parliamentary elections would be held on March 5, President Ramchandra Paudel’s office announced following a week of violent protests that led to the resignation of K P Sharma Oli and Sushila Karki taking over as the country’s first woman PM.

Meanwhile, the authorities on Saturday lifted the curfew and restrictive orders imposed in Kathmandu Valley and other parts of Nepal, allowing daily life to gradually return to normal. There are no restrictive orders or curfew on Saturday, a Nepal Army spokesperson says. Shops, grocery stores, vegetable markets and shopping malls reopened after days of closure, while traffic began to flow back on the streets.

President Paudel, while dissolving the House of Representatives on the recommendation of the newly-appointed prime minister on Friday, said the next parliamentary election would be held on March 5.

Former Chief Justice Karki, 73, was sworn-in as the country’s first woman prime minister, ending days of political uncertainty after the abrupt resignation of Oli this week following wide-spread anti-government protests against a ban on social media and alleged corruption.

Oli quit on Tuesday shortly after hundreds of agitators entered his office demanding his resignation for the death of at least 19 people in police action during Monday’s protests. The prime minister will form a small Cabinet on Sunday, two days after her swearing-in ceremony, as offices are closed on Saturday. Karki will hold some two dozen ministries, including Home, Foreign Affairs and Defence.