Nepal got the first-ever woman prime minister last week as KP Oli’s two-thirds majority government was thrown out by the massive Gen-Z movement. The exploding frustration towards the systematic corruption was ignited by the government’s unsuccessful attempt to impose a social media ban.
The four-day-lasting ban unfolded the first page of a historic metamorphosis, ultimately leading to the election of Sushila Karki, the former chief justice, as an interim prime minister.
The social media walls started to be painted with nepotism-inspired terms like ‘Nepo Kid’ and ‘Nepo Baby’ in Nepal. The fast-circulating videos exposed the luxury lifestyle of the children of politicians and questioned if they achieved it on their own or through their parents’ political connections.
It proved to be the first building block of a powerful movement to reshape the nation’s political landscape. Many of these videos specifically show the children of diplomats and lawmakers receiving special treatment.
On September 4, the-then Nepali Congress and CPN UML declared the ban on 26 social media platforms for not complying with the asked deadline to be registered locally.
The imposed ban on social media, including Facebook, WhatsApp and YouTube, was interpreted as the silencing of the voice against the corrupted government, which triggered local Gen-Z to turn up in the street on September 8.
The protest ended with a devastating turmoil of killing 19 youths by police, and some of them were shot dead in school uniform. This caused the government to step back and lift the four-day-old ban on those online platforms.
The following day, angered by the government’s disdainful tendency, Gen-Z started burning the houses of ministers and political institutions like the Parliament House and Singha Durbar, the administrative hub of the Nepalese government.
As protesters set homes of senior politicians and key government buildings into the flames, the chaos forced self-declared ‘stubborn’ Prime Minister Oli to resign.
Gen-Z picked new prime minister in Discord
The ubiquitous VoIP communication and instant messaging app, Discord, was one of the 26 apps banned by the government of Nepal just a few days ago. But, with the revival of the Nepalese internet cloud, the American app became the stage for headless Gen–Z to find their leader.
During the hunt to fill the power vacuum, there were more than 145,000 attendees in the Discord discussion. Which ultimately agreed to raise trendsetter Karki as their leader. Karki also keeps the record of the country’s first-ever woman chief justice, 34 years after its neighboring country, India, appointed one in 1991.
Karki appointed prime minister of Nepal by the President Ram Chandra Poudel on Friday. Upon appointment, Karki dismissed the parliament and has called for early election on March 5th.
The odd political flip
In 2017, Karki was serving as chief justice, and Sher Bahadur Deuba, chairman of the Nepali Congress, was the prime minister. While Karki is known for her policy of zero tolerance toward corruption, Deuba holds the title of allegedly the most corrupt politician in Nepal.
During that period, Deuba’s government filed an impeachment motion against then-Chief Justice Karki, which automatically suspended her from the post. Deuba’s attempt was seen as direct retaliation for her judiciary’s zero-tolerance stance on corruption.
But, at the moment when Karki was taking the prime minister’s oath as people’s hope for the rebuilding of the nation, Deuba was beaten badly at his dwelling house, accompanied by his wife, Araju Deuba, the foreign minister of Nepal.
“Sher Bahadur Deuba. He has been the Prime Minister of Nepal on 5-6 occasions and is probably the most corrupt guy in the country. He was hiding in an airport waiting to flee and was found by protestors. He was beaten and paraded through the streets before being handed to the military,” says a Redditor.
This could be the redefining moment for Deuba as a corrupt politician and antagonist among the public, while Karki emerges as the protagonist. Hence, the examination of Karki’s political career and exercise of power has just begun.
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