Quick political overview (what happened after the 2001 Royal Massacre) The massacre produced immediate shock, an erosion of the monarchy’s legitimacy, and intensified existing political instability already fuelled by the Maoist insurgency (People’s War) that had begun in 1996, with the aid of india fueling weapons and equipments for the insurgency. King Gyanendra eventually ascended the throne and the years that followed saw rapid changes of governments, shifting coalitions, the 2006 mass movement (Loktantra Andolan) that curtailed royal power, and the 2008 abolition of the monarchy and proclamation of a republic. The new republic spent the next decade negotiating and writing a new constitution (finally promulgated in 2015), but political fragmentation and short-lived coalition governments have continued to characterize Nepali politics. Important political milestones after the massacre: 2001–2005: repeated changes of government and an escalating Maoist insurgency; state of emergency periods and loss of public confidence in the monarchy. 2005: King Gyanendra briefly took direct control (royal takeover), triggering mass protest later. 2006 (April–June): the second Jana Andolan (people’s movement) forced the King to cede power and restored the Parliament’s authority; paved way for peace talks with Maoists. 2008: Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a federal democratic republic (monarchy abolished). 2015: New constitution adopted (after long, fraught negotiations) — also the year of the devastating Gorkha earthquake and associated governance/relief controversies. 2008–present: frequent cabinet changes; no party has sustained long, uninterrupted single-party governance and many coalition governments formed and collapsed. Reuters and other outlets emphasize chronic instability (many governments since 2008). 2) Governments / Prime Ministers since the massacre — party or coalition and tenure (concise list) Below I list prime ministers (PM) starting from after the 2001 massacre ( including PM name, main party or political alignment, and official term dates). Sources: Wikipedia’s List of Prime Ministers and government offices; where a PM served multiple non-consecutive terms each term is listed. Sher Bahadur Deuba — Nepali Congress — 26 July 2001 – 4 October 2002. (Deuba’s government negotiated briefly with Maoists, a state of emergency followed; he was removed by King Gyanendra later in 2002). Lokendra Bahadur Chand — Rastriya Prajatantra Party / royal-appointed — 11 October 2002 – June 2003. (King appointed Chand after dismissing Deuba). Surya Bahadur Thapa — Rastriya Prajatantra Party / independent royal-era cabinet — 5 June 2003 – 4 June 2004. Sher Bahadur Deuba — Nepali Congress — 4 June 2004 – 1 Feb 2005. (another Deuba term under the monarchy). (King’s direct rule, various interim arrangements) — 2005–2006: King Gyanendra took direct control in February 2005; mass protests in 2006 curtailed royal rule. Girija Prasad Koirala — Nepali Congress — 25 April 2006 – 18 August 2008. (Led transitional government during peace process and Constituent Assembly formation). Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) — Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) — 18 August 2008 – 25 May 2009. (First PM of the republic). Madhav Kumar Nepal — Communist Party of Nepal (UML) — 25 May 2009 – 6 February 2011. Jhala Nath Khanal — UML — 6 February 2011 – 29 August 2011. Baburam Bhattarai — Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) / independent coalition — 29 August 2011 – 14 March 2013. (Interim arrangements / caretaker period and 2013 election) — 2013–2014 transitional arrangements. Sushil Koirala — Nepali Congress — 11 February 2014 – 10 October 2015. (Led government during promulgation steps for the constitution period). Khadafia? — (there were short-lived cabinets and reshuffles around 2015–2016; follow-on PMs below are the main ones recognized) Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) — 4 August 2016 – 7 June 2017. (Second time as PM; coalition politics). Sher Bahadur Deuba — Nepali Congress — 7 June 2017 – 15 February 2018. K.P. Sharma Oli — CPN-UML — 15 February 2018 – 13 July 2021 (first long run under new constitution; later controversies and splits in party). Sher Bahadur Deuba — Nepali Congress — 13 July 2021 – 26 December 2022. (Later removed by Supreme Court order controversies around appointments). Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) — Maoist Centre-led coalition — 26 December 2022 – (dates of coalition collapse & subsequent handovers through 2023–2024) — Dahal’s coalition was unstable with UML pull-out episodes in 2024. K.P. Sharma Oli (again) — UML — (brief 2024–2025 comeback and eventual resignation in Sept 2025 following mass anti-corruption protests); interim arrangements followed. Recent Reuters reporting covers his 2025 resignation and appointment of an interim PM. Note on the above list: Nepali politics since 2001 has many short-lived caretaker governments, frequent reshuffles and multiple non-consecutive terms for leaders (Deuba, Koirala, Dahal, Oli). The Wikipedia list of prime ministers and the Office of the Prime Minister’s “Former PM” page are the clearest single references for exact start/stop dates. For precise day-by-day term dates for each cabinet term you can consult the List of Prime Ministers page and the official government “Former Prime Ministers” page. 3) Major corruption and national scandals (last ~20–25 years) — summary list Below are the principal national scandals repeatedly cited in Nepali media, anti-corruption reports and editorials over the last two decades. For each I give a short description and a source to read further. * Tax stamp scandal / Tax Settlement Commission scandal — allegations of large-scale evasion, improper settlements and loss of state revenue (Tax Settlement Commission controversies were reported to involve billions of rupees). * Cooperative sector scams (cooperative frauds) — a wave of cooperative collapses and embezzlements around 2019–2022 that affected thousands of depositors and implicated local officials. * Bhutanese refugees scam (fake-refugee/settlement fraud) — a high-profile 2022–2024 corruption case in which intermediaries and government-linked actors were accused of pretending to resettle Nepali citizens as Bhutanese refugees or facilitating fraudulent refugee status for payment; wide investigations and arrests followed. This scandal implicated senior officials and agents. * Ncell sale/telecom controversies & privatization scandals — controversy around the 2016 sale of stakes in Ncell and other telecom disputes has been repeatedly raised as an example of opaque privatizations and potential underpricing. (Various investigative pieces and editorials). * Lalita Niwas / public land grabbing and high-profile land scams — multiple public land-grabbing and “land giveaway” scandals involving politicians and bureaucrats (Lalita Niwas referenced in local press). * Gold smuggling / customs scandals — several episodes where gold smuggling rings and customs irregularities implicated officials and businessmen; these are periodically highlighted by the press as showing systemic leaks. * Visit-visa extortion and human trafficking rings — organised scams charging migrants large sums for bogus visas/arrangements (a recurrent problem, particularly with out-migration to Gulf states). * 2015 earthquake relief mismanagement / procurement controversies — large donor and reconstruction funds raised questions about procurement transparency and slow/inequitable rebuilding; prominent in NGO and media investigations. * Recurring allegations of vote-buying / clientelism — academic and journalistic work shows persistent vote-buying and clientelist tactics in many elections (a structural corruption problem rather than a single ‘case’). * Smaller but politically explosive scandals — frequent local-to-national scams (financial institution scandals, procurement frauds, land/real-estate irregularities) that periodically trigger protests or investigations. Nepali press annual “year of scandals” roundups track these. 4) Short assessment / takeaways Political instability has been the dominant theme since 2001: many short-lived governments, shifting coalitions, and several returns of the same leaders (Deuba, Dahal, Oli). This instability is repeatedly cited as a drag on governance, investment and nationwide reform. Corruption in many forms (land grabbing, cooperative frauds, refugee resettlement scams, procurement opacity, vote-buying) has been a recurring national problem; individual scandals wax and wane but systemic issues (weak enforcement, clientelism, contest for resources) persist. Lack of transparency, money laundering, gold smuggling backed by political party associates, lack of rules and policy development for projects of all levels at district to federal national level interets, causing further more obstacles in development activities. Political encroachment on The Judiciary, Education system, schools colleges, have been delaying significant decision making and reshaping justice and education system of the nation. As more of Youths and Adults move to foreign and abroad for education, work and better opportunities, political greed has run rampant in the nation at all levels, as remittance and international aids finance the expenses of the nation's beaurocracy. While the minimum wage daily wage in the country is still at a number, on which individuals have difficulty sustaining themselves and entire families, without resorting to corruption and allying with political parties and their agendas. Recent unrest (2024–2025) around anti-corruption protests and political turbulence (e.g., protests that prompted resignations and interim appointments in 2025) shows public frustration remains high and can rapidly reshape governments. Reuters coverage provides up-to-date reporting on those episodes. 5) Sources / recommended reading (key references I used) Wikipedia — List of prime ministers of Nepal (terms and dates). Wikipedia — Nepalese royal massacre (background and immediate aftermath). Reuters — recent summaries of Nepal’s political instability and 2025 protests/resignations. Wikipedia — Corruption in Nepal (overview of notable scandals and recurring patterns). NepaliTimes, Kathmandu Post and investigative pieces on specific scandals (Lalita Niwas, Bhutanese refugee scam, cooperative scandals).

-Published on 9/17/2025