Nepal’s new Prime Minister Sushila Karki began her week by appointing three members to her Council of Ministers after intense negotiations over the weekend, but the very youth movement that thrust her into power has already turned against her. The GenZ group, which led the nationwide protests that toppled the previous government, has accused Karki of betraying their trust by excluding them from the selection process. Their anger is directed in particular at the choice of lawyer Om Prakash Aryal as the new Home and Law Minister, a decision they say was made without consultation. According to Nepali Times, the youth leaders claim Aryal’s appointment reflects the influence of established elites rather than the grassroots energy of their movement.
By late Monday night, GenZ leader Sudan Gurung was leading supporters and grieving families of protesters killed in last week’s demonstrations in a dramatic protest outside the prime minister’s residence. They demanded that Karki either listen to their demands or step down. The sight of families mourning their dead outside the leader they helped install underscored the fragile alliance between the street movement and the country’s first woman prime minister.
Alongside Aryal, Karki appointed former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal as Finance Minister, and the widely respected former chief of the Nepal Electricity Authority, Kulman Ghising, to handle not just Energy but also Urban Development and Physical Infrastructure and Transport. Both Khanal and Ghising are seen as technocrats with proven track records, lending credibility to Karki’s promise to fill her cabinet with competent and honest professionals. Yet their appointments have done little to quell GenZ’s frustration, which appears more rooted in process than in qualifications.
Karki has insisted that she is choosing ministers based on merit and integrity, not popularity. This stance places her at odds with GenZ, which has been pushing for candidates who reflect the movement’s grassroots spirit — including names like retired Lt Gen Balananda Sharma, innovation leader Mahabir Pun, former education minister Sumana Shrestha, and Dharan’s outspoken mayor Harka Sampang. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, who has been sympathetic to the movement but refused to lead the interim government himself, is also said to have influenced some of the youth group’s preferred candidates.
The growing rift comes at a moment of crisis for Nepal’s fragile political order. Addressing civil servants at Singha Darbar, Karki admitted that the 9 September arson attacks had caused enormous damage not only to government property but also to sensitive state records and court documents. “I am ashamed to say that there has been a systematic targeting of sensitive and essential government institutions,” she said, vowing to investigate the perpetrators. Yet she also tried to reassure the public and bureaucracy alike by stressing that her premiership is only temporary. She pledged to step down after early elections scheduled for 5 March, insisting her goal is to restore governance and rebuild trust.
Despite the turmoil, Karki’s new ministers bring significant credentials. Aryal is a Supreme Court advocate famous for his role in challenging Lokman Singh Karki’s controversial appointment to the anti-graft body CIAA, as well as other high-profile cases of public interest. Khanal, with over three decades in the civil service, has a reputation for reform and a refusal to indulge in perks of office. Ghising, remembered for ending Nepal’s crippling electricity shortages, remains a figure of popular admiration despite his abrupt removal earlier this year. In a groundbreaking move, Karki also appointed Sabita Bhandari Baral as the country’s first female Attorney General.
But while Karki’s technocratic cabinet might reassure sections of the establishment, it risks alienating the very force that carried her into office. The GenZ protests have already claimed 72 lives, with hundreds still receiving treatment in hospitals. The prime minister has promised compensation for bereaved families and free medical care for the injured, but her appeal for unity and patience may not be enough. What began as a youth-led uprising against corruption and misrule now faces its first major test of whether street power and state power can coexist without tearing each other apart.
