Nepal sets elections in March 2026 after deadly protests
Nepal’s President Ramchandra Paudel dissolved parliament and called for fresh elections on March 5, 2026, his office said late on Friday, September 12, 2025, following a week of deadly violence that culminated in the appointment of the country’s first woman prime minister in the interim.
The announcement came just hours after Paudel appointed former Chief Justice Sushila Karki to lead the country, following the deadly “Gen Z”-led anti-graft protests that forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign.
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The president “dissolved the House of Representatives … and fixed March 5, 2026, Thursday for the elections,” according to a statement from the president’s office.
Watch: Nepal erupts in violence as troops deployed after mass protests
Karki was appointed after two days of intense negotiations between Paudel, army chief Ashok Raj Sigdel, and the protest leaders behind Nepal’s worst upheaval in years, which left at least 51 people killed and more than 1,300 injured.
Nepal’s southern neighbour, India, said it hoped that the developments would help foster peace and stability.
“Heartfelt congratulations to the Honourable Sushila Karki Ji on assuming the office of Prime Minister of Nepal’s interim government. India is fully committed to the peace, progress, and prosperity of Nepal’s brothers and sisters,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X.
Also watch: Army patrols streets after Nepal’s parliament torched, PM steps down
The countrywide protests were sparked by a social media ban that has since been rolled back.
The violence subsided only after Oli resigned on Tuesday.
Nepal has grappled with political and economic instability since the abolition of its monarchy in 2008, while a lack of job opportunities drives millions of young people to seek work in other countries, such as the Middle East, South Korea, and Malaysia.
The country of 30 million people, tucked between China and India, inched back towards normalcy on Friday, September 12, 2025, with shops reopened, cars back on roads, and police replacing the guns they wielded earlier in the week with batons.
