While a group of Gen Z youth proposed former chief justice Sushila Karki as the head of an interim government, not all youth groups have reached a consensus on the name.
Based on the slogans chanted by various groups of youth gathered outside the Army Headquarters Wednesday evening, it is clear they have not agreed on a single name.
A different Gen Z group had held a five-hour discussion on the social media platform Discord and agreed on Karki's name. They stated during the broadcast that a team of Gen Z youth had already gone to negotiate with the army with Karki's name.
However, the situation outside the Army Headquarters was different. Various groups, also claiming to represent Gen Z, had gathered with different names in mind. Some were chanting the name of Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, while others were chanting the name of Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang. These supporters of Shah and Sampang stated that they would not accept Sushila Karki's name.
The youth, gathered in separate groups, were seen talking amongst themselves. Some were telling reporters that they would not accept any name other than their preferred one. As it got late, some soldiers made an announcement, telling them to "discuss amongst yourselves and come back tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Sampang has arrived in Kathmandu to talk with Chief of the Army Staff Ashok Raj Sigdel about the changing political situation. He stated that as soon as he arrived in Kathmandu Wednesday evening, he went to the Army Headquarters and held a discussion with General Sigdel.
Speaking to reporters outside the Army Headquarters, he said, "I came here after tens of thousands of youths called me and said I must come to Kathmandu." He added that he had discussed the formation of an interim government with General Sigdel. He also mentioned that former chief justice Sushila Karki's name had been proposed as the head of the interim government. When asked by reporters if he agreed with Karki's name, Sampang replied, "Who am I to agree or disagree? The young generation will decide on this." He did not say anything further about himself or the conversation with General Sigdel only stating that the "conversation is still ongoing."
President Ram Chandra Paudel and General Sigdel had called for talks Tuesday evening. Following the call for talks, different Gen Z groups were found to have gone to the Army Headquarters for discussions. It was also brought up in the live discussion that another group had already met at the Army Headquarters and left before they had reached a consensus on Karki's name.
A representative from one of the groups that went to the Army Headquarters Rakshya 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 Chief of the 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 Rakshya Bam was also brought up in the Gen Z's live discussion. They have rejected the idea of holding talks with Durga Prasai and 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, Nimesh Shrestha and Rehanraj Dangal, who also went to the Army Headquarters for talks with the Chief of Army Staff, said 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."
