Kathmandu, Sep 11: Nepal’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki has emerged as the leading choice to head an interim government, a representative of the “Gen Z” protest movement said on Thursday, days after mass demonstrations forced the resignation of the Prime Minister.
Army chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel met representatives of the protest movement on Wednesday to discuss the political transition, a military spokesperson confirmed, as the army seeks to restore order following the country’s worst violence in two decades. On Tuesday, parliament was set ablaze amid unrest that toppled the veteran leader.
“Right now, Sushila Karki’s name is coming up to lead the interim government — we are waiting for the President to make a move,” said Rakshya Bam, one of the youth representatives who attended the meeting.
Karki, 73, Nepal’s first female Chief Justice and an academic, has said experts must “come together to figure out the way forward,” stressing that “the parliament still stands.”
However, consensus among the protesters remains elusive. In an online meeting of thousands on Discord, young activists debated multiple names and priorities. “There are divisions,” journalist Pranaya Rana noted. “It is natural in a decentralised movement like this that there are going to be competing interests and competing voices.”
Meanwhile, soldiers patrolled Kathmandu for a second day on Thursday, enforcing checkpoints across the capital. The city remained tense but relatively calm.
The protests, which erupted on Monday against a social media ban and rampant corruption, quickly escalated into a nationwide uprising. At least 19 people were killed in the crackdown, and government buildings across the country were torched, triggering the fall of the government.
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