A group of Gen Z youth has put forth the name of former chief justice Sushila Karki to lead the interim government that will be formed to run the country and hold elections.
The group came to an agreement on Karki's name after a nearly five-hour discussion on the social media platform Discord. The live discussion, which can also be viewed on YouTube, is still ongoing. Approximately 10,000 people are participating in the discussion. The youth stated that a team from their group has already gone to negotiate with the Nepal Army with the agreed-upon name.
Other names, including Kulman Ghising and Balen Shah, were also raised during the discussion. A youth who participated in the discussion stated that Karki's name was proposed after an in-depth deliberation because the head of the government at this sensitive time should be a person with an honest image who can protect the law and legal processes. He added that Karki has already been contacted about this.
President Ram Chandra Paudel and Chief of the Army Staff General Ashok Raj Sigdel had called for talks Tuesday evening. After the call for talks, different groups were seen arriving at the Army Headquarters. During the Gen Z's live discussion, it was also mentioned that one group had already met at the Army Headquarters and left before they had reached a consensus.
A representative from one of the groups that went to the Army Headquarters Raksha Bam, said that they left after "Chief of the Army Staff Sigdel told them to talk to Durga Prasai and representatives of the Rastriya Swatantra Party."
"After the Chief of Army Staff himself called us to meet with the President and said, 'Please sit down for talks with Durga Prasai and the RSP group; they are also stakeholders,' we rejected the proposal and left the Nepal Army headquarters. The sacrifice of the Gen Z movement and the journey of this epoch-making change would be wasted, so we are now preparing to discuss with the protesting Gen Z group," she said.
This reaction from Raksha Bam was also brought up in the Gen Z's live discussion. They have rejected the idea of holding talks with Durga Prasai and the RSP.
The Gen Z youth participating in the discussion emphasized the need to protect democracy. They said that it's important to prevent the country's leadership from falling into the hands of an extremist group by taking advantage of this sensitive time.
Similarly, other young people from her group also went to the Army Headquarters for talks Tuesday evening. They said that Gen Z representatives are located all over the country and would only sit down for talks with President Paudel and Chief of the Army Staff Sigdel after a joint document has been prepared.
The Nepali Army has stated that it is facilitating discussions with all parties involved in the movement. "According to the information so far, the plan is to sit down with all the parties concerned and facilitate the situation," said Army Spokesperson and Brigadier General Rajaram Basnet.
Likewise, Nimesh Shrestha and Rehan Raj Dangal, who went to the Army Headquarters for talks, stated on Instagram that they had sent Sudan Gurung, the founder of "Hami Nepali," to discuss who should be the leader.
"We have officially sent our Sudan Dai (elder brother) from the organization 'Hami Nepali' to talk," said Dangal. "We need a good leader. Discussions are being held on who that leader should be." He stated that the Gen Z youth want democracy to be maintained.
