History was made in Nepal on September 12, 2025, when Sushila Karki, a former Supreme Court chief justice and a figure widely respected for her integrity, was appointed as the country’s interim prime minister. The announcement, delivered by President Ram Chandra Poudel’s spokesman Kiran Pokhrel, marked the first time a woman has led the Himalayan nation, according to the Associated Press.
Karki’s appointment did not come in peaceful times. The preceding week had seen Nepal gripped by deadly unrest after the government, led by KP Sharma Oli, imposed a sweeping ban on social media. What began as anger over digital censorship quickly escalated into a nationwide movement against entrenched corruption and nepotism. Protesters—frustrated by years of political stagnation—took to the streets, attacking the residences of political elites, the Supreme Court, and other public buildings. The violence was staggering: at least 51 people lost their lives and hundreds more were injured since the protests erupted on September 8, 2025, as reported by Anadolu Agency.
With the country teetering on the brink, the army stepped in. Soldiers imposed a strict curfew and brought warring factions to the table, facilitating a dialogue that ultimately led to Karki’s nomination as interim leader. Her mandate is clear but daunting: guide Nepal’s 30 million citizens out of this constitutional crisis and towards new elections within six months.
Karki, 73, is no stranger to breaking barriers. Born on June 7, 1952, in Biratnagar in eastern Koshi province, she was the eldest of seven children. After graduating from Tribhuvan University in 1972, she earned a master’s in political science from Banaras Hindu University in India, then returned home to complete her law degree in 1978. By 1985, she was teaching at Mahendra Multiple Campus in Dharan, but the winds of political change soon swept her into activism. In 1990, Karki joined Nepal’s People’s Movement against the autocratic Panchayat regime—a decision that saw her briefly imprisoned in Biratnagar, according to Anadolu Agency.
Her legal career advanced rapidly. By 2008, she was a senior advocate at the Nepal Bar Association. The following year, she was appointed as an ad-hoc justice of the Supreme Court, and in 2010, confirmed as a permanent justice. When Chief Justice Kalyan Shrestha retired in 2016, Karki was recommended by the Constitutional Council and formally confirmed as Nepal’s first female chief justice on July 11, 2016.
As chief justice, Karki earned a reputation as a “firebrand judge unafraid to ruffle powerful feathers,” in the words of Anadolu Agency. She presided over several landmark cases targeting corruption and abuse of office. In 2012, she convicted sitting Information and Communication Minister Jaya Prakash Gupta for corruption. Four years later, she was one of the justices who denied amnesty to former Maoist lawmaker and convicted murderer Bal Krishna Dhungel. Perhaps most famously, in 2016, she led a ruling to impeach the head of Nepal’s anti-graft body for abuse of office.
This fearless approach, however, made her enemies. In April 2017, the Maoist Centre and Nepali Congress filed an impeachment motion against her after the Supreme Court annulled the government’s appointment of Jaya Bahadur Chand as police chief. The move automatically suspended Karki, but public outrage was swift and fierce. Then-UN High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the proceedings as “politically motivated and harmful to judicial independence.” The Supreme Court stayed the motion in May 2017, and under mounting pressure, the government abandoned the effort. Karki retired the following month, on June 6, 2017, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 65.
Her legacy as chief justice was cemented not only by her legal acumen but by her courage in the face of adversity. As Anadolu Agency put it, she was “the top choice of the protesters to head an interim government in the country.” The current crisis, which saw the collapse of KP Sharma Oli’s government—his fourth time in office since being elected in July 2024—created a rare opening for a leader from outside the traditional political elite. For many, Karki’s independence from party politics and her record of standing up to entrenched interests made her the ideal candidate to shepherd Nepal through turbulent waters.
Her swearing-in ceremony on September 12, 2025, was both somber and hopeful. The army, which had taken control to restore order, remains a powerful presence as Nepal prepares for what could be its most consequential elections in decades. Karki’s administration faces a daunting checklist: restoring public trust, ensuring accountability for recent violence, and laying the groundwork for a free and fair electoral process. The last elections, held in 2022, were supposed to usher in stability. Instead, they set the stage for another round of political turmoil.
Karki’s rise is also a moment of profound symbolic importance for Nepalese women. She is the first—and so far, only—woman to have served as chief justice, and now the first to lead the government. Her ascent comes at a time when women across South Asia continue to face steep barriers in public life. For many observers, her appointment is a sign that even in the face of chaos, progress is possible.
But the path ahead is anything but straightforward. The protests that brought down the previous administration were not just about social media bans or even corruption—they were a rejection of a political system that many Nepalis feel has failed them time and again. Karki’s government must now address those grievances head-on, while also contending with the country’s deep economic challenges and the ever-present risk of further unrest.
For now, though, there is a sense of cautious optimism. Karki’s track record as a reformer gives her credibility, and her outsider status offers hope for a break from the past. As Nepal prepares for elections, all eyes will be on whether this historic appointment can deliver the change so many have demanded.
In a nation where the old order has so often resisted reform, Sushila Karki’s leadership marks a new chapter—one that could reshape not only Nepal’s political landscape, but its sense of what’s possible.
