At least 77 protesters, including a former minister, have been arrested in Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, police said, as a nationwide strike was staged over the government dissolving Parliament and seeking fresh polls amid a pandemic-induced economic crisis.
Tensions have been rising in the Himalayan nation since December 20 when Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli dismissed the legislature and accused members of his Communist Party of being uncooperative.
Supreme Court judges hearing more than a dozen petitions challenging the legality of Parliament’s dissolution are expected to give a verdict this month. If they rule in Oli’s favour, elections have been scheduled in two phases, on April 30 and May 10.
A team of Nepali climbers that made the first winter summit of K2, the world’s second tallest peak, has returned to a heroes’ welcome from crowds of well-wishers.
The 10 men, who climbed the 8,611-metre (28,251-foot) K2 peak on January 16, attributed their success to team spirit and a resolve to raise their country’s pride.
A Nepalese woman takes selfie with the all-Nepalese mountaineering team at Tribhuwan International Airport in Kathmandu [Niranjan Shrestha/AP]The mountain, which straddles the Pakistan-China border, was first climbed in 1954 but had never been summitted in the winter.
“We succeeded in our effort because we worked as a team,” Nirmal Purja, the team’s leader, said at a public function to welcome them back.
Three former Nepali prime ministers joined thousands of demonstrators on Friday to protest against Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli’s abrupt move to dissolve Parliament and call snap elections.
Oli dismissed the legislature in December, accusing members of his own party – including the former rebels – of noncooperation, and called for new elections in April.
The move plunged Nepal into fresh political uncertainty after years of instability, short-lived governments and earthquakes that devastated the country in 2015.
A senior police official said an estimated 25,000 people had gathered to protest near Oli’s office and more marches were planned across the Himalayan nation, which lies between India and China.
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