Kathmandu: Less than a month after his appointment, Nepal’s home minister Sudhan Gurung resigned on Wednesday, following questions over his investments.
Gurung announced his resignation in a social media post during the day.
“I have resigned from the post of Home Minister, effective from today, to ensure an impartial investigation into matters related to me and to ensure that no conflict of interest arises or affects the investigation process due to my office,” he wrote on Facebook, as reported by The Hindu.
He has also taken seriously recent public questions about his investments, including shares, Gurung said.
“For me, ethics is greater than position, and there is no greater force than public trust. The ongoing Gen Z movement in the country, which is demanding good governance, transparency and accountability, has also conveyed this message — that public life must be clean and l
eadership must be accountable,” he added. “If anyone questions the government formed on the blood and sacrifice of my 46 brothers and sisters, the answer to that is ethics.
Gurung was a key figure in last September’s Gen Z protests and was appointed home minister on March 27 after Balendra Shah of the Rastriya Swatantra Party took oath as prime minister of Nepal.
Gurung is 36 and his involvement in the youth protests had previously been questioned, as he is a millennial.
Deepak Bhatt, a controversial businessman, had been arrested on charges of alleged corruption and money laundering. In recent days, the local media reported extensively on Gurung’s alleged ties to Bhatt and unusual financial transactions.
While Gurung’s appointment as home minister had come as a surprise to many, he swung into action the very next day after his appointment, ordering the arrest of former prime minister K P Sharma Oli and former home minister Ramesh Lekhak.
The two were arrested of March 28, a day after the new government was formed. The two politicians were arrested in connection with negligent killings on September 8, the first day of the Gen Z protests, as pointed out by a commission formed to investigate the September 8-9 incidents, the police said.
They have been released since.