Nepal’s former Supreme Court chief justice Sushila Karki has become the country’s Interim Prime Minister after deadly anti-corruption protests ousted the government.
The 73-year-old was sworn in during a brief ceremony, becoming the first woman to lead the impoverished Himalayan nation after a deal was reached with protest leaders.
The protests were triggered by the government’s decision last week to ban 26 social media platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook – but they soon widened to embody much deeper discontent with Nepal’s political elite.
More than 50 people were killed in clashes with riot police during this week’s mass protests sparked by a ban on social media platforms.
The ban was lifted on Monday – but by then protests had swelled into a mass movement. Angry crowds set fire to parliament and government buildings in the capital Kathmandu on Tuesday, forcing Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli to resign.
Earlier on Friday, President Ram Chandra Poudel’s press adviser had confirmed to the BBC that Karki would take the oath of office that evening.
The agreement between the President and the protest leaders was reached after days of consultations. Legal experts were also involved.
Parliament was dissolved late on Friday and it was announced that general elections would be held on 5 March next year.
Karki is expected to appoint ministers to her cabinet within a few days.
She is widely regarded as having a clean image, and her leadership of the interim government is being supported by student leaders from the so-called “Gen Z” movement.
On Tuesday, Karki visited the protest site in Kathmandu where 19 people were killed in clashes with police the day before. She also met some of the injured who were being treated in hospital.
The new PM was born in a family with close contacts with the Koirala political dynasty, from the country’s largest democratic party Nepali Congress, and later married the then-leader Durga Subedi.
She has said that her husband’s support played a major role in her journey from a lawyer to Nepal’s chief justice in 2016.
But Karki has not been free from controversy, having faced an impeachment incident during her nearly 11-month tenure as chief justice.
