Dissatisfied with delays in finalising an agreement between her government and Gen Z representatives, Prime Minister Sushila Karki on Friday instructed officials to complete the draft within days. This follows criticism from youth campaigners that the process had stalled.

Prime Minister Karki held discussions with leading representatives of the Gen Z movement on Friday. In the meeting, she instructed officials to expedite finalisation of the draft agreement to be signed between the government and the Gen Z side.

A week earlier, talking to the Post, Gen Z representative Amit Khanal ‘Urja’ had accused the government of delaying the agreement. As per an earlier understanding, the government should have signed a formal deal with Gen Z representatives by last Wednesday.

Gen Z groups have demanded that the September protests—in which 76 people were killed and government and private properties worth billions of rupees were damaged—must be formally recognised as a political movement.

In the discussions held at the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday, the Gen Z representatives expressed concerns that the agreement signing process was being unnecessarily delayed, urging the government to reach a conclusion without further postponement.

In response, government officials pledged that the documents received from the Gen Z side were under review and that the work of giving finishing touches to the draft was nearly over.

A group of Gen Z leaders had finalised a draft agreement to be signed with the government and submitted it to Prime Minister Karki’s advisers on November 11.

The draft states that the Gen Z uprising of September 8-9 was a political movement and urges the government to recognise it as an expression of dissatisfaction with Nepal’s democratic process, lack of representation, and growing distrust in the governance structure.

Several Gen Z groups contributed to the draft, which was submitted on behalf of the Nepal Gen Z Front.

The draft agreement that Gen Z wants to formalise with the government has been shared back and forth between officials and the youth representatives.

According to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat, Karki in the latest meeting directed officials to conclude the agreement swiftly.

“This matter must not be dragged on any further. If it can be completed today, finish it today; if not, work on it tomorrow [Saturday]. If needed, work throughout Sunday as well as make a review of whatever necessary. The final draft must be ready by Monday,” an official privy to the developments quoted Prime Minister Karki as saying.

She further said that the government was prepared to take responsibility for any political or administrative challenges that may arise following the signing of the agreement.

“If there is any untoward incident after the signing of the agreement, I will face it. My entire council of ministers will take responsibility. This is a political document. Civil servants and administrators need not worry,” she said.

Although talks between the government and the Gen Z movement have been ongoing, no concrete agreement has yet been reached.

Gen Z representative Monika Niraula said that there had been an understanding to finalise the deal by Sunday and have it endorsed by Monday’s Cabinet meeting, after which the agreement would be signed.

“We have tried our best to incorporate as many voices as possible through a participatory democratic process. The nature of our movement was different; it was spontaneous. Therefore, it has many narratives. Taking these various perspectives into account, we incorporated as many voices as possible in the agreement draft submitted to the government,” Niraula said.

Niraula, who was present in the discussion with the prime minister on Friday, also said that they accept the federal republic, as well as the current provisions on proportional inclusion and secularism. “Besides, we have included many other issues in our proposed agreement,” she added.

However, questions have been raised over the legitimacy of an agreement between the interim government and Gen Z representatives in the absence of political parties. Gen Z representatives, however, assert that such concerns would not arise.

Gen Z leaders said they discussed these issues in talks involving the government, political parties, and Gen Z representatives.

“It cannot be said that we brought this agreement without consulting political parties,” said a Gen Z representative. “In fact, we have made it clear that political party representatives should also be present while signing the agreement.”

According to Niraula, there had been bilateral discussions with the political parties on these matters, and that all parties except the CPN-UML had responded positively.

A disagreement, however, persists between the Gen Z representatives and the government over whether the killing of 19 people on September 8 should be called a “massacre”.

While the Prime Minister’s Office claims that the Gen Z side did not use such terminology in their proposal, youth representatives say that the secretary responsible for legal affairs at the Prime Minister’s Office objected to their demand that the September 8 incident be described as a ‘massacre’.