KATHMANDU: Nepal’s newly appointed interim prime minister began work on Sat­urday by visiting young protesters wounded in the deadly anti-corruption rallies that ousted her predecessor this week.

Parliament was disso­l­ved and elections set for March 5 next year, shortly after she was appointed late on Friday.

Sushila Karki, the 73-year-old former chief justice, was tasked a day earlier with restoring ord­er and addressing protesters’ demands for a corruption-free future ahead of elections in six months.

She has not spoken publicly since being appo­i­nted, but started her work to restore government by meeting some of the scores wounded in hospital. Prot­ests began on Monday and quickly escalated, with par­l­i­ament and key gover­nment buildings set abl­aze, as they fed into long-standing economic woes in Nepal. At least 51 people were killed in the worst unrest since the end of a decade-long civil war and the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.

The capital Kathmandu took a step back towards normality on Saturday as a curfew was eased and daily life returned, with markets opening, traffic ret­urning and families visiting temples. Soldiers scaled back their presence on the streets, where they had been deployed in large numbers since the protests.

“We don’t know what will happen in the future now, but we are satisfied today,” said Durga Magar, a 23-year-old Kathmandu shop worker.

A fifth of people in Nepal aged between 15 and 24 are unemployed, according to the World Bank, with GDP per capita standing at just $1,447.

Turning point

The appointment of Sushila Karki, known for her independence, came after intense negotiations by army chief Gen Ashok Raj Sigdel and President Ram Chandra Paudel, inc­luding with representatives of “Gen Z”, the loose umbrella title of the youth protest movement. Thous­ands of young activists had used the Discord app to debate the next steps, and to name Karki as their choice of next leader.

International rights groups issued a joint statement calling for the new administration to end the “impunity of the past”.

Nepal is “at a turning point, where the hard work of securing human rights for all could be built upon or sent into reverse”, Amn­esty International’s Isabe­lle Lassee said as part of the statement.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2025