Nepal protest: Gen Z group, president and army discuss roadmap for provisional government- Who will be interim PM

The Gen Z protesters held a meeting with Nepalese President Ramchandra Paudel and Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel at the Army headquarters over the formation of an interim government.

Basically, the Gen Z are considering chief justice Sushila Karki, Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah, and two others for leading the interim government in Nepal. An Army spokesperson confirmed that discussions are ongoing with various stakeholders. He, however, did not provide any names. “We are holding rounds of talks with different stakeholders. The talks are mainly focused on finding a way out from the current stalemate and at the same time maintaining law and order situation in the country,” the Army spokesperson said.Dozens of young people waited outside Army Headquarters as the meeting continued. A similar round of talks on Wednesday produced no agreement. According to sources, the current discussions aim to nominate a caretaker leader who will oversee fresh elections within a set timeframe and map out the political transition.“The new executive head will be the one who will conduct fresh elections within a specified time frame,” the sources said to PTI.

Alongside Sushila Karki and Balendra Shah, former Nepal Electricity Authority chief Kulman Ghising and Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang are also being considered for the interim leadership. Although sources say Shah has backed Karki’s candidacy, there is no consensus yet on who will head the new cabinet, with sections of the Gen Z movement expressing reservations about her. Nepal has been in turmoil since Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned on Tuesday amid mass protests, prompting the Army to assume control of law and order.

Sushila Karki

Sushila Karki made history in 2016 as Nepal’s first female Chief Justice. A former Supreme Court justice, senior advocate and law professor, she became known for rulings that challenged political interference. Her tenure ended abruptly in 2017 after lawmakers filed an impeachment motion accusing her of bias and overreach following her decision to overturn a police chief appointment on seniority grounds. Although automatically suspended, the motion failed before her retirement in June 2017.

Born in Biratnagar in 1952, Karki studied political science at Banaras Hindu University and law at Tribhuvan University. She has written on gender equality and won several legal awards.

Balendra Shah

Balendra Shah, popularly known as “Balen,” is a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician serving as Kathmandu’s 15th mayor since May 2022. Running as an independent, he became the first non-party candidate to win the post. An engineer by training, Balen earned a civil engineering degree and later studied structural engineering at Visvesvaraya Technological University in Karnataka, India.

Before politics, he was active in Nepal’s underground hip-hop scene, using music to criticise corruption and inequality.

In June 2023, he grabbed headlines by banning the screening of Indian films in Kathmandu over a controversial dialogue in Adipurush, cementing his reputation as an assertive, unconventional leader.

Kulman Ghising

Kulman Ghising, 54, former managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, has emerged as the leading choice to head Nepal’s interim government. Celebrated for ending the country’s crippling power cuts, he is viewed as a clean, pragmatic technocrat whose apolitical image aligns with Gen Z protesters’ calls for a corruption-free administration. Born on 25 November 1970 in rural Ramechhap, Ghising studied electrical engineering in Jamshedpur, power systems in Kathmandu and earned an MBA from Pokhara University.

Joining the NEA in 1994, he rose through senior posts before taking charge in 2016, turning the utility profitable and restoring round-the-clock electricity to urban Nepal.