Nepal’s Prime Minister, KP Sharma Oli, has resigned following the country’s worst unrest in decades due to public anger over the deaths of 19 anti-corruption protestors in a clash with police earlier this week.
Following the deaths and more than 100 injuries, tens of thousands of protestors remained on the ground, blocking roads and setting fires to parliament and other government buildings.
“In view of the adverse situation in the country, I have resigned effective today to facilitate the solution to the problem and to help resolve it politically in accordance with the constitution,” Oli wrote in his letter to President Ramchandra Paudel on Tuesday after his administration was blamed for the bloodiest outbreaks of unrest in a decade.
The protests mainly consisted of young people over widespread allegations of corruption and a social media ban, which has since been withdrawn.
The social media ban, which triggered the demonstrations, would have seen 26 social media sites banned, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook, for failing to meet a deadline to register with Nepal’s Ministry of Communication and Information Technology.
During the protests, Nepal's Minister for Communication Prithvi Subba told the BBC that the police had used force, including water cannons, batons and firing rubber bullets.
