Nepal's former chief justice Sushila Karki has become the prime minister (PM) of the interim government as per the spirit of the Gen Z protest that saw the entire country plunge in to unprecedented crisis since early this week. As per the president’s office, President Ram Chandra Poudel appointed Karki Friday under Article 61(3 and 4) of the 2015 Constitution which states that “The President shall promote the national unity of Nepal” and “The main duty of the President shall
Nepal's former chief justice Sushila Karki has become the prime minister (PM) of the interim government as per the spirit of the Gen Z protest that saw the entire country plunge in to unprecedented crisis since early this week. As per the president’s office, President Ram Chandra Poudel appointed Karki Friday under Article 61(3 and 4) of the 2015 Constitution which states that “The President shall promote the national unity of Nepal” and “The main duty of the President shall be to abide by and protect this Constitution.” The decision was taken after a series of parleys with the Gen Z representatives and the Nepal army, which has taken over law and order of the country. The parliament stands dissolved and elections called for March, 2026.
Karki has created history by becoming the first woman to hold the highest executive office in Nepal. Her appointment will significantly strengthen the cause of gender equality, as earlier even with the arrangement of securing 33% reservation for women at all levels of government, women’s voice was still weak. They were merely seen and seldom heard. Earlier, she was the only woman in Nepal to have held the top judiciary post as well from July 2016 to June 2017. She has borne the brunt of caste discrimination for inter-caste marriage. Her spouse and human rights activist Durga Subedi has written in his book how both their families renounced them after their marriage and how Karki had to deal with this trauma for a long time.
She is from Biratnagar town in eastern Nepal bordering Bihar. Alumni of the Banaras Hindu University, where many of Nepal's former political leaders like BP Koirala, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, Manmohan Adhikari and others studied, Karki has had long and impactful career. She was a teacher at Mahendra Multiple Campus in Dharan when she participated in the first People’s Movement in 1990 to topple the then panchayat system and establish multiparty democracy and was jailed in Biratnagar. She wrote the novel Kara inspired by her experience during this time.
During her year-long tenure as CJ, she came to be known for her disciplined style of functioning and intolerance towards corruption. She presided over high-profile corruption cases and came under government accusation of working against it, especially when the Supreme Court overturned the appointment of Jaya Bahadur Chand as the chief of Nepal police. The then coalition government of Nepali Congress and the CPN Maoist initiated impeachment proceeding against her in the parliament, but was later forced to suspend it after much public pressure. It is thus not at all surprising why Karki emerged as the natural choice of the Gen Z that has taken up fight against corruption as the main agenda.
Even after retirement, she continued to be at the forefront raising corruption issues. She has been a prominent civil society voice and media face, vehemently criticising the main political party leaders for corruption, lack of transparency and mis-governance.
However, challenges facing the new PM are of Herculean proportion - one never imagined by any Nepali. No public structure is standing with Singha Durbar (the government secretariat), the Supreme Court building and residences of PM and president burnt down. This is the immediate challenge together with forming a cabinet of untarnished members, resource mobilisation and setting of a committee for amendment to the constitution. Already, political parties and the bar association have labelled the parliament dissolution unconstitutional.
Second, there is a general atmosphere of fear and uncertainty amongst the general public after the violence followed by massive lootings, arsons and goons resorting to street plunder. Banks were robbed, supermarkets vandalised, goods stolen, smaller shops were looted with lives of people coming to a complete standstill. Moreover, more than 10,000 prisoners are now out in the open after jail breaks from all across the country. The government will need to focus on law and order and be able to give sense of security to the people. It has to then ensure peaceful free and fair elections, which is challenging for Karki will have to deal with rallies from parties and royalists.
The death toll from the mayhem is now over 40. Besides empathy, grieving families need closure. For this, a thorough investigation on death and accounting the actual cost of the massive destruction of public property, some of which historical buildings, is to be carried out. As per the Hotel Association of Nepal, over two dozen hotels were attacked and the loss for the hospitality sector alone could be to the tune of NRs 25 billion. The rebuilding cost could be more than the loss faced in the 2015 earthquake.
Most importantly, the government has to meet the demand of the Gen Z protestors to investigate abuse of authority and amassing of property by politicians. Any compromise or interference will force Gen Z back to the streets.
This article is authored by Akanshya Shah, journalist and researcher from Nepal based in New Delhi.
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