The interim government faces an uphill task in dealing with the Gen Z-ers who are divided into several groups and raising conflicting voices.

A clear line of division surfaced on Saturday after President Ramchandra Paudel invited a group representing Gen Z for talks at his office.

While a group led by Sudan Gurung reached Sheetal Niwas for talks with the President and Prime Minister Sushila Karki, another Gen Z group protested outside the office terming Gurung and his team “foreign agents” and “anti-national”.

As he had taken ill, President Paudel did not talk with the group of 20 Gen Z leaders and representatives and asked Karki to talk to them instead. But those who were unable to participate in meetings at the presidential office protested outside.

On Friday, Paudel had held a discussion with political party leaders and asked them to focus on the elections scheduled for March 5.

In light of the division and discord between Gen Z groups widening, former prime minister Baburam Bhattarai wrote on X: “The outcome of this uprising is still not clear. Even now, it remains unclear who truly represents the Gen Z movement, and what roles different individuals and groups have played in it. It is unfortunate that there still appears to be confusion on this matter.”

On Saturday, too, Prime Minister Karki faced a similar situation at the President’s Office. In the four hours of discussions and heated exchanges, several Gen Z representatives and leaders criticised the government for failing to act on the mandate of the Gen Z movement, to meet the demands of Gen Z and to heed the plight of the families of those who died or were injured in the September protests.

A Gen Z leader even asked Karki to resign and stormed out of the meeting, according to an aide to the prime minister.

There are Gen Z groups who have forwarded different demands to the government, threatening to take to the streets if they go unaddressed.

On Saturday, some Gen Z campaigners asked Karki whether she was chosen by “foreign powers” and why so many allegations and accusations are being levelled against her and the government. Karki clarified that her government was not formed by a “foreign power”, nor run by “NGOs and INGOs”.

While she was clarifying that her government was formed by capturing the spirit of the September 8-9 Gen Z movement, the group protesting outside the President’s Office said “foreign agents” posing as Gen Z leaders were sitting with the President and the prime minister while sidelining the real Gen Zers like them.

In this light, former prime minister Bhattarai advised the interim government to be clear on this issue. Bhattarai is a sympathiser of the Gen Z movement and the only political leader who attended Karki’s oath-taking ceremony on September 12.

“Those who formally initiated the Gen Z movement and led it when it began on September 8 should be recognised as the main representatives,” Bhattarai said. “Those who supported the movement later should be acknowledged as supporters. It is appropriate to deal accordingly with those who infiltrated the movement later, raised regressive slogans, and engaged in inappropriate actions.”

Karki denied the accusations levelled against her government. She reaffirmed that the government upholds the spirit of the Gen Z movement, and is committed to good governance and timely elections.

At the meeting, Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepal, who is widely seen as the leader of the Gen Z movement, could be seen trying to assuage the concerns of various Gen Z representatives.

“Instead of focusing on the bigger agenda, we’ve spent an entire month trying to unite different Gen Z groups and it’s still not happening,” Gurung wrote on Facebook on Saturday evening.

“From now on, our focus will be limited to what benefits our country.

We won’t go and beg anyone to unite anymore. We are not here to please any particular person or group,” Gurung said in his Facebook post after seeing divisions in the Gen Z community.

Karki told the Gen Z leaders that the government and the protesters are two sides of the same coin and that a solution should be sought through mutual understanding.

“We have called upon all political parties and stakeholders to take part in the upcoming elections,” said Miraj Dhungana, one of the leading Gen Z campaigners.

Dhungana said a new force may emerge from the elections. “We have advised the prime minister to induct as ministers those who played a significant role in the movement’s success,” he said.

After meeting the prime minister, another Gen Z representative, Rakshya Bam, issued a statement urging all stakeholders to take part in the elections.

She said history has brought political parties at a crossroads and there is no alternative to elections from this point on.

“What is needed now is not the impulse to revolt,” her appeal reads. “Today’s need is the wisdom to institutionalise the truth of this uprising. History has placed the current political parties at a turning point. Either show the courage to regain people’s trust, or be ready to be consigned to history.”

On Saturday afternoon, those who were left outside the President’s Office expressed their outrage, questioning how Gurung, who “only distributed water to protesters on the streets”, had become an activist and leader.

In video interviews with some journalists, they raised concerns that the ministers’ list only included individuals from the “American Embassy Youth Council Nepal” and NGOs, not genuine Gen Z activists.

They also objected to the selection process of those meant to represent Gen Z protesters in dialogue with the President, asking on what basis the 20 representatives were chosen when Prime Minister Karki had just said she didn’t know who exactly the Gen Zers are.

Even Purushottam Yadav, a member of the negotiation team, boycotted the talks. This led to a discussion on the presence of dissatisfied factions within the Gen Z movement and how fragmented it is.

“As we have several groups and different agendas, the government seems to be in a mood to hold discussion in phases,” said a Gen Z leader.

Some youths, including Bam, who were dissatisfied with Saturday’s discussion said they would present their views through a public statement.

In addition, provincial coordinators from Gurung’s own group also expressed dissatisfaction. They criticised Gurung for betraying them by not including them in the talks. Gurung has picked seven people from each province as Gen Z representatives.

In the meeting, most of the Gen Z representatives told Karki not to forget their core agendas—corruption control and action against those responsible for suppressing the movement.

Some asked for the arrest of former prime minister KP Sharma Oli and his home minister Ramesh Lekhak who were in power during the killing of 19 youths on September 8, as well as action against corrupt individuals.

At the discussion, Finance Minister Rameshore Khanal said that the government would adopt a zero-tolerance policy for corruption.

“We are taking action based on the complaints received,” Khanal said, trying to reassure the Gen Z leaders. “There was some delay due to unforeseen events, but we are moving forward in line with the spirit of the movement.”

On Saturday, another group of Gen Z representatives issued a public appeal, stating that their demand for the restoration of monarchy had been ignored.

In an appeal to the President, the prime minister, the media, and thought leaders, Sanatan Rijal, spokesperson for the Gen Z Alliance for Monarchy, cautioned that those trying to hijack the Gen Z movement should not be given prominence.