At a time when Sushila Karki led government faced criticism from various sections over its slow progress in taking action against the corrupt politicians and those responsible for the September 8 massacre, Mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City Balen Shah met Prime Minister Kari and expressed concern over the slow pace of the government. Mayor Shah is learnt to have questioned the government’s slow pace, weak law and order situation and failure to act against deposed Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and then Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak as demanded by the Gen Z group.
The interim Prime Minister is facing heavy criticism for its slow progress in taking action against the corrupt politicians and controversy over ministerial appointments among other matters. Mayor Shah who played key role in the formation of the interim government, has time and again raised concern over the pace of government’s movement and delay in penalizing the corrupt officials and bringing the culprits of the Gen Z movement to justice.
Although the interim government’s major responsibility is to conduct March 5 general election in a free, fair and impartial manner by maintaining law and order, it is also mandated to take action against the corrupt politicians and penalize those involved in crushing the student’s movement of September 8 and 9 resulting in the death of 76 people.
On the other hand, the high level judicial inquiry commission led by Gauri Bahadur Karki to probe into the incidents of September 8 and 9 is performing its duty, it seems that the Gen Z youths are not satisfied with the pace in which the commission is progressing. The Gen Z youths are demanding prompt action against Oli and Lekhak, who headed the then government and home ministry that were responsible for the massacre. However, the leaders of then coalition partners Nepali Congress and CPN-UML as well as opposition party CPN-Maoist Centre are cautioning the government against taking any action against their leaders without adequate proof of their involvement in the suppression.
The Sushila Karki government is in a dilemma, whether to take action against the suppressor of the movement and the corrupt politicians or not. If the government takes action against the leaders of NC and UML holding them responsible for the September’s massacre, it might anger the old political parties, that are pressing for reinstatement of the Parliament, and if not the government might be in trouble with the growing pressure from the Gen Z group. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Karki has called a tri-partite meeting among the government ministers, Gen Z youths and the representatives of the political parties on Wednesday to find a way out from the current political impasse. The Karki government is also facing the challenge in maintaining law and order as different groups including a section of Gen Z and medical professional Durga Prasai led group going to the streets to press for various demands.
