Former PM of Nepal Tulsi Giri passes away

Tulsi Giri (93), Nepal’s two-time prime minister and senior politician, has passed away in Kathmandu, Nepal on December 18, 2018. Born in 1926 in Siraha district, Giri started his political career from Nepali Congress party. He later turned a die-hard supporter of Panchyat system after then King Mahendra Shah imposed the system. He served as the country’s Prime Minister twice during the tenure of slain King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1975 and 1977. Birendra, the eldest son of King Mahendra Shah, was the King of Nepal from 1972 until his death in the 2001 Nepalese royal massacre. After the country eliminated the Panchyat system and absolute monarchy through the 1990 People’s Movement during the rule of King Birendra, Giri left the country and was living in Sri Lanka. He returned to Nepal in 2005 when then King Gyanendra Shah, who took over the reigns following the royal massacre, appointed him the vice-chairman of the Cabinet (equivalent to the Prime Minister’s post).