 "Kulman Ghising and Sushila Karki are being considered by Gen Z protesters to head the interim government in Nepal. File Photos/Reuters")
Nepal has been plunged into political turmoil after protests over corruption and nepotism, triggered by a brief-lived social media ban, led to the fall of the KP Sharma Oli government. The Gen-Z leaders are now suggesting names for leaders to head the interim government.
However, the protesters have so far failed to reach a consensus over a name for the interim prime minister of the Himalayan nation. Nepal’s army has said it is restarting talks with protesters to pick the interim leader.
But why is there a split among protesters over the choice to temporarily lead the nation? We take a look.
The many contenders
Sushila Karki, who made history as Nepal’s first woman Supreme Court Chief Justice in 2016, is reportedly the frontrunner for interim leader.
Her name was suggested by many of those spearheading the protests. Karki, 73, had told AFP that “experts need to come together to figure out the way forward”, and that “the parliament still stands”.
In an online vote carried out via the digital platform Discord, a majority of Gen Z campaigners favoured Karki.
However, another group within the movement has proposed the name of Kulman Ghising , the former Managing Director of the Nepal Electricity Authority. He is widely credited with bringing an end to Nepal’s years-long power outage crisis.
Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah is popular among Nepal’s Gen Z due to his image as a rapper-politician. However, he has stepped aside and endorsed Sushika Karki as Nepal’s interim Prime Minister.
The name of Harka Raj Rai, better known as Harka Sampang, the mayor of Dharan, has also come up. However, the group that recommended Ghising’s nomination asserted that he was “not competent enough”, as per NDTV.
Why Nepal protesters remain divided
Divisions remain among youth protesters in Nepal over who should lead the interim government.
The support for Karki remains strong. Her name was proposed to Nepal President Ramchandra Paudel and the Army by the leaders of the protests, a representative of the demonstrators, Ojaswi Raj Thapa, told reporters.
“Our country getting a first woman PM (will be) a beautiful thing. We want to choose her because she can help us build this nation.” he told ANI.
“We see Sushila Karki for who she truly is — honest, fearless, and unshaken,” Sujit Kumar Jha, a 34-year-old company secretary, said to Reuters.
However, the faction of the protesters who proposed Ghising for the top post rejected Karki’s name, citing eligibility and her age. They reportedly said she was “too old” to be a Gen Z leader.
As per NDTV, this disagreement resulted in clashes between Gen Z factions in Kathmandu on Thursday (September 11) afternoon.
A source told Reuters on the condition of anonymity that protesters were yet to reach a unanimous decision and that not everybody was on board with Karki’s candidacy.
Is Constitution an obstacle for Karki?
Nepal’s Constitution bars former chief justices and judges from holding positions other than in the judiciary.
Sushila Karki, thus, the Gen Z group supporting Ghising, argued, cannot temporarily lead the nation.
Anil Baniya, a protester, said they are seeking reforms to the Constitution. He told reporters, “Through online surveys, we voted for Sushila Karki. We are not trying to change the Constitution… only to make necessary changes (that will allow Karki to be sworn in on a temporary basis).”
The former Chief Justice said in a statement that “nothing has been fixed yet… nothing is final, it could all change tomorrow. We cannot say it will definitely be me.”
Karki is ready to become interim leader, but efforts are on to find a constitutional route to appoint her, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
According to Nepal media, Karki was in talks with President Paudel and Nepal Army chief Ashok Raj Sigdel.
Paudel, meanwhile, said he is seeking an end to the political crisis in the country.
“I am consulting and making every effort to find a way out of the current difficult situation in the country within the constitutional framework,” the president said in a statement. “I appeal to all parties to be confident that a solution to the problem is being sought as soon as possible to address the demands of the protesting citizens.”
He also urged Nepalis to “practice restraint and cooperate to maintain peace and order in the country”.
Nepal saw deadly protests this week, as at least 19 people were killed when police opened fire on protesters on Tuesday, forcing Oli to resign. The death toll has since increased to 34 and more than 1,300 were injured, Nepal’s health ministry said.
Nepal Army soldiers continue to patrol the streets of the capital, while a nationwide curfew will remain in place until Friday.
With inputs from agencies