There was a mixed reaction from political parties and leader from across the country regarding the arrest of former Prime Minister K.P. Oli and then Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak by Balendra Shah government for their allgeed involvement in the crackdown of September’s Gen Z movement.
Arjun Narsingh K.C., senior leader of Nepali Congress and Lawmaker:
Investigation of any incident should be done in a neutral and transparent manner by following due procedures, remarked senior leader of Nepali Congress and Parliament member Arjun Narsingh K.C. “It is not sufficient only to investigate into the killings of protesters on September 8, but those responsible for the destructive activities of September 9, when many government offices including supreme court and government secretariat Singhdurbar were burnt, should be brought into justice,” pointed out K.C. There should not be any type of prejudice, while making such an investigation, he added.
Those involved in excessive use of force during the Gen Z movement should be punished, no doubt, but those responsible for destructive activities such as setting on fire government buildings and private properties during the movement should also be punished, said Dinesh Tripathi, senior advocate. The action of the government should not be one-sided, he added. It is inappropriate to arrest people only at the recommendation of the probe commission without properly following the legal procedure, he pointed out.
Former Science Minister Ganesh Shah said, “no doubt it was essential to implement the report of the probe commission, but a due process should be followed. It seems that the government has taken the action in a hurry.”
The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Lennist) secretary, Mahesh Basnet, called the arrest of party chair Oli a ‘political revenge’ and said that the Balendra Shah-led government is displaying prejudice.
Hours after Oli’s arrest, CPN (UML) called an emergency Central Secretariat meeting to decide the party’s next course of action.
Earlier on Friday, the first Cabinet meeting of the newly formed government, chaired by Prime Minister Balendra Shah, decided to immediately implement the report of the high-level commission’s investigation into the Gen Z movement in September last year.
Meanwhile, former Home Minister and Rashtriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP-N) leader Kamal Thapa criticised KP Sharma Oli’s arrest and said that the government seems to be on the path of prohibition, revenge, and prejudice.
The Balen government was formed with the goal of good governance and economic prosperity, he said in a social media post.
“Conflict and confrontation should not be anyone’s priority in the current era,” Thapa said, adding that adherence to the rule of law, mutual reconciliation, and unity are the first conditions for good governance and prosperity.
