Nepal’s former Chief Justice Sushila Karki has been appointed as the country’s new interim prime minister, following days of deadly youth protests.
Karki’s appointment was announced by the office of President Ramchandra Poudel on Friday, September 12, and she was sworn into office as the country’s first-ever female prime minister later that day.
“I did not come to this position because I had sought it, but because there were voices from the streets demanding that Sushila Karki should be given the responsibility,” she said during her first public remarks on Sunday.
Here is what we know about Karki.
Who is Sushila Karki?
Following the youth-led “Gen Z” protests against corruption in Nepal, former Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned last Tuesday. Karki was appointed on Friday to lead the transitional government until snap elections in March 2026.
Karki, 73, is the first woman to head the government of Nepal.
She was born in June 1952 in what is now Nepal’s eastern city of Biratnagar, about 400km (250 miles) south of Kathmandu, the capital. Karki reportedly attended the Mahendra Morang College in Biratnagar and earned her Bachelor of Arts at age 20. Later, she attended graduate school in India, earning her Master’s degree from Banaras Hindu University before returning to Nepal.
Karki completed her law degree at Tribhuvan University in 1978, according to The Kathmandu Post, and went on to become a lawyer and teach law at Mahendra Multiple Campus in Nepal’s eastern city of Dharan.
Karki became the first female chief justice of Nepal in 2016.
In May 2017, the government tried to suspend her as members of parliament signed an impeachment motion against her after the court, under her leadership, overturned their appointment of Jaya Bahadur Chand as police chief. The court chose the highest-ranking officer, Nawaraj Silwal, for the position instead.
The United Nations labelled the impeachment effort, which was eventually dropped, as “politically motivated”, and Karki retired in June 2017.
What happened in Nepal?
Young people in Kathmandu and other cities took to the streets on September 8 to protest political corruption. There was also anger towards children of Nepali government officials – dubbed “Nepo kids” – who document their lavish lifestyles online.
Days before the protests, the Nepali government had banned more than 20 social media websites in the country for not complying with the government’s demands.
On the first day of protests, some demonstrators broke past police barriers and entered the parliament complex. A violent crackdown by security forces led dozens dead, inflaming tensions further.
The next day, protesters defied curfews to set fire to government buildings, including parliament, and freed thousands of prisoners. Nepali ministers were evacuated by helicopter to ensure their safety.
Many protesters were killed amid clashes with the police. On September 12, a police spokesman said the death toll from the protests had climbed to 51.
In response, Oli, who was elected as PM for the fourth time last year, announced his resignation last Tuesday, September 9. Other ministers also resigned from their posts.
Nepal’s army was deployed late on September 9 in an attempt to restore order. The situation has started to calm down, with schools reopening and businesses resuming operations.
Hami Nepal, the group that organised the protests, held a call on the messaging application, Discord, late last week to choose Nepal’s interim prime minister. About 10,000 Nepalis – including many from the diaspora – participated.
After hours of debate, they chose Karki.
Paudel announced Karki’s appointment on September 12. He also announced that the 275-seat parliament had been dissolved, and elections were then set for March 5, 2026, about two years earlier than planned.
Why Karki?
While the young protesters highlighted the generation gap between them and Nepal’s leaders during their agitation, they ended up picking septuagenarian Karki as their interim leader.
“This has been a concern from people here as well,” Anish Ghimre, a Nepali journalist with the Kathmandu Post, told Al Jazeera, referring to Karki’s age. “But I think the bigger picture here is people wanted someone they could trust, someone they can look up to.”
Ghimre, 24, said the decision was motivated by the young protesters researching Karki’s background and career. He pointed out how Karki has previously said during interviews that “many ministers came to her and they asked for some favour” but that she had refused to comply with their demands.
“Hopefully, after six months, maybe we can see a new face, maybe someone younger,” he added, referring to the March election.
Others also pointed to the selection of Karki being based on her reputation, despite her age.
“Gen Z protesters rallied behind septuagenarian Sushila Karki because, even in her earlier statements to the press, her image as Nepal’s first woman chief justice symbolised integrity and resistance against corruption,” Yog Raj Lamichhane, an assistant professor at the School of Business in Nepal’s Pokhara University, told Al Jazeera.
What has PM Karki done so far?
“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki said on Sunday.
She acknowledged the youth’s demands for the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality.
“We will not stay here more than six months in any situation. We will complete our responsibilities and pledge to hand over to the next parliament and ministers.”
On Monday, she named three new government ministers: Om Prakash Aryal as home minister, Rameshwar Prasad Khanal as finance minister and Kulman Ghising as energy minister.
What’s next for Nepal?
With the parliament dissolved, Karki is likely to face challenges in passing any new legislation.
“Although the government has changed and parliament dissolved, no concrete programme against corruption has been introduced, underscoring the concerns of the Gen Z movement,” Lamichhane said.
“The interim government must ensure timely elections and also address the challenge of reconstruction.”
Still, Nishchal Pandey, the director of Kathmandu-based think tank Centre for South Asian Studies, told Al Jazeera that Karki had “immense power” since she had emerged as the interim choice of the protesters.
He added that Karki, however, would face the challenge of restoring law and order. Another challenge “will be to boost confidence of the private sector shaken by last week’s vandalism and destruction of private property, including hotels and supermarkets”.
Getting Nepal’s tourism sector back on its feet after the protests and chaos of last week would be another test for Karki, he said. As of 2022, tourism contributed to 6.7 percent of Nepal’s gross domestic product (GDP). “November to February is peak tourist season in Nepal, and how quickly this sector recovers will determine macro-economic stability.”
Pandey said there is increasing support in Nepal for a directly elected presidential system, but added that constitutional amendments and broad national consensus would be required for that to come into effect. He added that Karki had hinted that her interim government would limit its mandate to creating conditions for free and fair elections.
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