After incendiary protests and more than 70 deaths, Nepal's new leader promises a brief interim term

KathmanduAfter the incidents ten days ago in Nepal, the new prime minister, Sushila Karki, a former chief magistrate, said she had accepted the new post reluctantly. The main political parties maintain that the process is unconstitutional. Less than 48 hours after being sworn in, Sushila Karki promised last Sunday that she would relinquish power within six months, when new elections are held.

Standing amid the charred government buildings of Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, Karki – the first woman to hold the post since the establishment of the republic in 2008 – told senior officials that she had assumed leadership on an interim basis. "I'm not here of my own free will," Karki said. "People on the street and everywhere were saying, 'Give Sushila the responsibility,' so I had to."

The newly appointed prime minister stressed that she had never expected to lead the country. For one thing, she had already retired from a long legal career: Karki was also the first female chief justice of the country's Supreme Court, where she gained a reputation as a fighter against corruption. For another, she is not a politician. But for her supporters among the military and the youth protest movement that toppled the previous government, that was precisely what mattered. "We are not here to taste power or high office," she said.

Unexpected shock

Nepal's descent into political anarchy was as swift as it was unexpected. From Monday, September 8, through the days of protests, practically until Wednesday, security forces killed at least 70 students protesting against official corruption and the ban on social media—the ban was quickly overturned. On Tuesday, crowds spread across the country, burning and looting government properties and politicians' residences. Thousands of buildings were attacked in a frenzy of arson attacks that rendered Nepal unable to govern itself. By late Tuesday, the prime minister had resigned, the army imposed a curfew, and cabinet members had been taken to military barracks, where they remained incommunicado for days.

Karki’s appointment on Friday of last week was accompanied by the dissolution of Parliament and, a few hours later, the announcement of elections for March 5. But on Saturday, eight Nepali political parties, including the three that have dominated politics for more than fifteen years, called the entire process unconstitutional.

Karki’s official inauguration on Sunday took place in one of the few buildings in Nepal’s vast government complex that had not been damaged by the attacks. She addressed a nearly all-male crowd of senior officials and police officers.

Unlike the impromptu swearing-in on Friday night, when so-called Gen Z protesters knelt at her feet and took selfies, On Sunday, there was little celebration except for a lavish bouquet of flowers. Outside, bewildered officials wandered around the government compound, home to about 20 ministries. Most buildings were blackened by smoke, some reduced to a skeleton, including the ornate prime minister's office.

Karki, who in his first public event last Saturday visited injured protesters in hospitals, said his government would pay $7,000 to each family of the dead. He ordered police to set up makeshift offices out of wood, bamboo, or whatever materials they could find. And he lamented the wholesale destruction of a government he, for a limited time, pledged to lead. "That's brought us to the point where even the government doesn't want to show its face," he said.