By Obinna Uballa
Nepal’s new interim prime minister, Sushila Karki, on Sunday, vowed not to remain in office beyond six months, promising to respect the demands of youth-led protesters who forced her predecessor out of power.
In her first public remarks since assuming office on Friday, the 73-year-old former chief justice said her administration would focus squarely on ending corruption, ensuring good governance, and tackling economic inequality.
“We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation,” Karki declared on Sunday. “What this group is demanding is the end of corruption, good governance and economic equality. You and I must be determined to fulfil that.”
Karki held a minute’s silence for the victims of last week’s mass protests, the most violent since Nepal’s decade-long civil war ended in 2006 and the monarchy was abolished two years later. At least 72 people were killed and 191 injured, according to the government’s chief secretary, Eaknarayan Aryal, a revised toll from an earlier figure of 51.
AFP reports that the unrest erupted after demonstrators, many of them young Nepalis mobilised under the banner of “Gen Z,” accused the government of corruption and political failure. Several government buildings within Kathmandu’s Singha Durbar complex were torched during Tuesday’s clashes.
Karki’s appointment followed urgent negotiations led by army chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel and President Ram Chandra Paudel, who consulted youth representatives before naming her. Activists had even used the Discord app to nominate her as their choice for leader.
“The situation I have come into, I did not wish for. My name was brought from the streets,” she told the nation.
Parliament has since been dissolved, with fresh elections scheduled for March 5, 2026. Karki pledged to oversee a smooth transition.
“We will not stay here more than six months in any situation,” she said. “We will complete our responsibilities and hand over to the next parliament and ministers. This is not possible without your support.”
President Paudel, who administered the oath of office, described the past week as “a very difficult, complicated, and grave situation” for the Himalayan nation of 30 million. He appealed to all citizens to seize the moment to rebuild trust and ensure successful elections next year.
