Nepal’s newly appointed interim prime minister, Sushila Karki, said she will hold office for no longer than six months and will hand power to the government that emerges after national elections scheduled for 5 March.
Karki, speaking for the first time since being sworn in on Friday, said she accepted the post under pressure from protesters and pledged to respect the demands of a youth-led movement that helped bring down the previous administration. "I did not wish for this job. It was after voices from the streets that I was compelled to accept," she said Sunday.
Her appointment followed weeks of mass demonstrations that erupted on 8 September after a government ban on social media platforms. The protests, led in large part by a loosely organized "Gen Z" movement, turned violent over two days, during which politicians' homes were vandalized and the parliament building was set on fire. Officials have said the unrest has left 72 people dead, including three police personnel.
Karki took the oath after reaching an agreement with leaders of the Gen Z protests. She said her interim government must "work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation," and quoted their stated demands as "the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality." Karki also expressed public shame over the destruction, saying, "If they were Nepalis who destroyed these essential structures, how can they be called Nepalis."
A former chief justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court, Karki is widely regarded as having a clean image. Her judicial tenure lasted nearly 11 months and included an impeachment challenge that drew controversy. As interim prime minister she now faces immediate tasks that include restoring law and order, rebuilding the parliamentary complex and other government buildings damaged in the unrest, and reassuring both the protesters who are demanding change and citizens concerned about the stability of Nepal’s young democracy and constitutional order.
The government collapse followed a rapid escalation of civil unrest after the social media restrictions, which critics said curtailed free expression and fueled public anger. Demonstrators from the Gen Z movement extended their demands beyond the online censorship to broader governance issues, mobilizing large crowds that overwhelmed security forces and led to clashes with police.
Karki’s commitment to a short interim tenure sets a clear timetable linked to the March elections, but it also places immediate pressure on her cabinet to address the humanitarian and security fallout from the violence. Rebuilding damaged state infrastructure and investigating the deaths and property destruction will be priorities for authorities, who are under scrutiny from both domestic and international observers.
Political leaders and protest organizers will watch whether Karki’s interim government can balance restoring order with responding to calls for accountability and reform. The March 5 vote offers a deadline for a return to a more stable, elected authority, but much will depend on the interim administration’s handling of the security situation and its engagement with the movement that precipitated the government’s downfall.
Karki’s public statements signal an intent to align the interim government’s agenda with the protesters’ demands while emphasizing a limited mandate. How effectively her cabinet can translate those pledges into concrete action in the coming months will shape Nepal’s immediate political trajectory and the confidence of a population rattled by the recent violence.