Amidst the extreme political crisis, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki has become the Prime Minister of the interim government of Nepal. She was sworn in as the Prime Minister on Friday. On the day Sushila took office, it was announced that the next national election will be held in the country on March 5 next year.
Sushila, 73, is the first female Prime Minister of Nepal. Previously, she was also the country’s first female Chief Justice. She served as the Chief Justice for about a year from July 2016 to June 2017.
Sushila was sworn in as the Prime Minister at the Sheetal Niwas, the residence of the President of Nepal in the capital Kathmandu, after 9 pm local time yesterday. President Ram Chandra Paudel administered the oath to her. The ceremony was attended by Nepal’s Vice President, Chief Justice, senior government officials, top officials of the security forces and foreign diplomats.
The country has been in a political crisis since Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned last Tuesday in the face of widespread protests by the youth of the Gen-G generation. President Paudel and Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel held a series of meetings with representatives of the protesting youth to resolve the crisis.
After reaching a consensus in the discussions yesterday, the President’s Office announced Sushila Karki’s name as the new Prime Minister. It is said that President Paudel has appointed Sushila as the Prime Minister by exercising his constitutional powers to uphold the constitution and promote national unity as the head of state.
After taking office at the oath-taking ceremony at the President’s House last night, the interim head of the government Sushila dissolved the parliament of Nepal. The date of the next election (March 5, 2026) was announced.
Sushila was in the news for her ‘zero tolerance’ stance against corruption during her tenure as Chief Justice. Because of that stance, the protesting youth proposed her name as the interim head of the government. She will announce the names of the ministers of the new government in a few days.
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