KTHMANDU: Decisions to make appointments and recommendations by the interim election government led by Sushila Karki, taken on the eve of its departure, have drawn widespread criticism.

A Cabinet meeting held on Sunday decided to recommend to the President the appointment of Om Prakash Aryal to the vacant seat in the National Assembly. Aryal is the incumbent Home Minister.

Likewise, Prime Minister Karki has nominated her chief personal secretary, Adarsh Kumar Shrestha, as chairperson of the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) for a five-year term. Karki made the decision in her capacity as the patron of the trust.

Zen G protesters gathered in New Baneshwor on September 08. Photo: Bikram Rai

Dissatisfaction and objections are being voiced as the government, which came to power on the strength of the Gen Z movement against corruption, nepotism, and cronyism, is seen to have followed the same flawed practice of appointing close associates. Criticism has intensified particularly because the prime minister appointed her own personal secretary, with calls being made for the decision to be revoked.

While briefing the media on Sunday about the Cabinet’s decisions, Home Minister Aryal himself read out his own name as the person recommended for appointment to the National Assembly.

A strong government with a clear majority for the Rastriya Swatantra Party is set to be formed following the House of Representatives election held on March 5. With it already certain that an elected government will take office within the next 15 days, the Karki-led government’s last-minute appointments have drawn widespread dissatisfaction.

Madan Krishna Sharma, president of Transparency International Nepal, says the outgoing government’s appointments amount to favoritism toward its close associates. According to him, when a government commanding nearly a two-thirds majority is about to take office, it is a form of corruption for a caretaker government to appoint people close to it.

“Corruption is not just about financial transactions. Failing to act with integrity is also corruption. A caretaker government should not be making such decisions,” he said. “Timing and context matter when making decisions. Appointing people merely to please associates is wrong.”

He added that it was inappropriate for a government formed under special circumstances to conduct elections to make such appointments when a party with a near two-thirds mandate is about to form the government.

“A party has already received a mandate from the people through the election to form the government. Appointment decisions should be made by the elected government. Recommending someone to the National Assembly and appointing the chairperson of the NTNC are wrong from the perspective of good governance and integrity,” he said.

Mahabir Pun, who resigned from the same interim government and later contested as an independent candidate from Myagdi to win a parliamentary seat, has also described the prime minister’s appointment as an example of nepotism, sycophancy, and favoritism.

Writing on Facebook, he said: “It is 100 percent wrong for the prime minister to appoint her personal secretary as the executive head of the National Trust for Nature Conservation. Adarsh brother, for the sake of protecting the prime minister’s dignity, please do not accept the position.” He also noted that such nepotism, sycophancy, favoritism, and flattery had already destroyed the old political parties.

Shrestha, the prime minister’s chief personal secretary, had long worked at the Supreme Court as a contract employee in information technology at the level of a nayab subba (Non-gazetted, first class official) . On 14 September 2025, Prime Minister Karki appointed him as her chief personal secretary. He had already come under criticism after securing a job equivalent to the rank of joint secretary for his wife. Following the controversy, those appointed to the Prime Minister’s Office were removed.

Gen Z representatives have also expressed dissatisfaction over the decision to appoint Shrestha as the chairperson of the trust.

Gen Z activist Rakshya Bam criticized the move, saying the Gen Z movement was not meant for the prime minister and ministers to distribute positions to their associates as farewell gifts.

“My Gen Z friends took bullets to their chests and heads on the streets while raising slogans for good governance and against nepotism and favoritism… Do you know why? It was for the dream that this country would slowly begin to breathe the air of good governance. Not for the prime minister and ministers to distribute chairs in councils, departments, or committees to their own people as farewell gifts,” she wrote on Facebook.

To facilitate appointments to vacant positions in various bodies, the election code of conduct was lifted late on the night of 9 March 2026 at the government’s request, even though the full results of the House of Representatives election had not yet been finalized. While the proportional representation vote results have been made public, the process of formally declaring the elected candidates has not yet been completed.

According to Narayan Prasad Bhattarai, spokesperson for the Election Commission, the commission is working to prepare the election report by March 19. The report will then be submitted to the President, after which the process of forming a new government will move forward.