Young leaders of Nepal’s Gen Z movement staged a protest on Sunday night in Baluwatar, Kathmandu, demanding the resignation of Interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki. Demonstrators gathered in front of the prime minister’s official residence, chanting slogans against the appointment of three new cabinet ministers without prior consultation.
Sudan Gurung, a key leader of the Gen Z movement, led the protest. Claiming to represent the movement, Gurung and his followers condemned the cabinet expansion and insisted they had not been consulted before the appointments. They called for Karki’s immediate resignation.
Gurung, speaking at the protest, declared, “If we take to the streets again, no one will be able to stop us. We will drag them down from the positions we put them in.” He also accused prominent lawyer Om Prakash Aryal of “making himself Home Minister from the inside.”
Last week, Gurung brought relatives of those killed or injured in anti-government protests led by former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to join the demonstrations.
Meanwhile, Interim Prime Minister Karki appointed Aryal as Minister of Home and Law, Rameshwar Khanal as Finance Minister, and Kulman Ghising as Energy Minister.
Aryal is well-known for filing a Supreme Court petition against the appointment of Lokman Singh Karki as the head of the anti-corruption commission. He has handled several public interest cases and served as the legal adviser to Kathmandu Metropolitan City. Aryal also participated in discussions with President Ram Chandra Paudel during Karki’s appointment process and attended her swearing-in ceremony.
Rameshwar Khanal, the incoming Finance Minister, is a former finance secretary. He recently submitted a 447-page report as chairman of the High-Level Economic Reform Recommendation Commission, outlining Nepal’s economic challenges, immediate actions, and long-term solutions.
Kulman Ghising, widely credited for ending Nepal’s load-shedding crisis as managing director of the Nepal Electricity Authority, will now lead the Ministry of Energy. The Oli government had removed him months earlier, replacing him with Hitendra Dev Shakya.
Sources said that Prime Minister Karki spoke with the three appointees over the phone before meeting them in person to finalize the decision. Earlier, she had appointed Sabita Bhandari as Nepal’s first female Attorney General.
On Sunday morning, Karki began discussions on forming a crisis cabinet of up to 11 members, with ministers possibly holding multiple portfolios.
Karki is Nepal’s first female prime minister. She was appointed interim leader after KP Sharma Oli resigned under pressure from the Gen Z movement. Soon after taking office, she dissolved the House of Representatives and announced new elections for March 5.
