Kathmandu: Former chief justice Sushila Karki was on Friday night sworn in as the interim Prime Minister of Nepal.
The 73-year-old Karki was administered the oath of office by President Ramchandra Paudel at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
Vice-President Ram Sahay Yadav and Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Rawat were present during swearing-in ceremony. India’s Ambassador to Nepal, Naveen Srivastava, met the newly sworn-in PM and congratulated her.
Karki became the first female Prime Minister of Nepal, and will guide the country to the next elections, which will be held on March 5, 2026.
Nepal’s Parliament was dissolved following the collapse of the KP Sharma Oli government after days of violent protests, led by the youth and Gen Z, across the country.
Karki, who served as chief justice from July 2016 to June 2017, and is known for her integrity and landmark judgements, was reported to be the top choice of the ‘Gen Z’ protest group to lead the country. But there were fresh talks and negotiations after names of Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah ‘Balen’, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician, and other contenders like Kulman Ghising, former head of the Nepal Electricity Authority, cropped up.
Ending days of speculation, Karki was on Friday chosen to lead the country’s interim administration.
The protests first broke out on Monday in Kathmandu over a ban on 26 social media sites, and rapidly spread to other cities.
Demonstrators set ablaze government buildings and lawmakers’ homes, targeted former PMs’ residences as angry mobs clashed with police. More than 30 people died and over 1,000 were injured.
The Army was deployed on the streets of Kathmandu and other badly-affected towns earlier in the week. The capital city and other areas are now peaceful.
