The President’s Office has disputed parts of the report’s account of the discussions that followed the Gen Z protests and the collapse of the government, while outlining its own version of events leading to the appointment of Sushila Karki as prime minister and the subsequent dissolution of the House of Representatives. 

The response, issued by Kiran Pokharel on behalf of the President’s Office, is reproduced below, with minor edits for clarity and consistency. Kantipur and The Kathmandu Post stand by the original reporting.

Following President Ramchandra Paudel’s appeal for talks on the night of September 9, 2026, around seven groups contacted the President’s Office claiming to be the “real Gen Z” and requesting an invitation for discussions.

At the time, the President was accompanied at Sheetal Niwas by his Chief Personal Secretary, six family members and his Press Adviser.

There was considerable confusion over who represented Gen Z, who its leaders were and what its demands were. In such circumstances, the President could not negotiate with all the groups claiming to represent Gen Z without first identifying their leadership and demands.

At around 3 am on September 10, 2026, the President summoned the Chief of the Army Staff and instructed him to identify the protesters, their leadership and their demands, after which the President would hold talks with them. The Army Chief subsequently invited the various groups for discussions.

For the next three days, the President held telephone consultations with most political party leaders, constitutional experts, intellectuals and members of civil society, among others.

Following these discussions, the protesters proposed former chief justice Sushila Karki as their candidate, and she was sent to negotiate. Talks with the team led by Karki began at Sheetal Niwas on September 11, 2026.

When the possibility of appointing a person who was not a member of Parliament was raised, the President asked the security agencies to bring then caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to the President’s Office so that his recommendation and consent could be obtained.

When the security agencies said the circumstances were not suitable for Oli to be brought to Sheetal Niwas, the President himself went to meet him.

Oli agreed to make a written recommendation. The President then returned to Sheetal Niwas and consulted constitutional experts on which provision of the Constitution could allow the appointment of a prime minister who was not a member of Parliament without undermining the Constitution.

As the guardian of the nation, the President invited major political party leaders to reach agreement on the steps that needed to be taken, along with the team led by Karki. Discussions continued through the night in three separate halls at Sheetal Niwas: political party leaders met in Kanchanjanga Hall, Karki’s team in Saipal Hall, and constitutional experts in Lumbini Hall.

Reports that former King Gyanendra Shah was to be invited to the meeting in Kanchanjanga Hall are completely false, imaginary and misleading. No one mentioned Gyanendra Shah during the meeting.

The discussions instead focused on several constitutional and political questions, including:

• Whether a prime minister who was not a member of Parliament could be appointed without dissolving the House of Representatives.

• How to protect the federal democratic republican Constitution without making extensive changes to it.

• What steps should be taken after the President had refused for two days to dissolve Parliament and create a government in a constitutional vacuum.

• The protesters’ insistence that Parliament be dissolved.

The President agreed in principle that Parliament could be dissolved, but maintained that he could not dissolve it before a new government had been formed and a recommendation for dissolution had been made by that government.

The President ultimately agreed to appoint a new prime minister on the recommendation of Oli, based on an understanding reached among the major political parties and advice from constitutional experts.

The President told Karki and the Gen Z delegation that he could never dissolve Parliament using powers that did not exist in the Constitution, “in the manner of an autocratic king”. He said he was prepared to become a martyr to protect the federal democratic republic and the existing Constitution.

The Karki-led team agreed that Karki would be appointed prime minister on the recommendation of Oli and that, after her appointment, the House of Representatives would be dissolved only on her recommendation, with elections to be held within six months.

On the evening of September 12, after this agreement had been reached, caretaker Prime Minister Oli recommended that the President take the appropriate constitutional step.

That same night, the President appointed Karki prime minister on Oli’s recommendation. The President then dissolved the House of Representatives on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers and instructed the new government to hold elections within six months.

The President’s Office said it was therefore “astonished” that Kantipur Daily had been drawn into what it described as a conspiracy by elements seeking to create confusion about the democratic republic by publishing false, imaginary and misleading information.

The Kanchanjanga meeting, it said, had been called to secure agreement among political parties on the steps necessary to protect the Constitution and democratic republicanism. No one at the meeting raised any institution or issue that was outside the Constitution or contrary to the values, norms or spirit of constitutional democratic republicanism.