)
Nepal has ushered in a new beginning after a week of deadly protests which forced its Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign with most of the politicians resigning and going into hiding as public anger against an unpopular regime accused of corruption among others boiled over.
A social media ban was all it needed to spark a popular revolution that swept the government out of power, leaving 51 people dead and 1300 others injured as citizens took to the streets in the ultimate showdown with the regime.
Sushila Karki who was the country’s first female chief justice has been picked to head the Himalayan nation.
Career as Chief Justice & locking horns with the corrupt elite
Aged 73, Karki’s appointment marked another chapter in the country’s history after it was plunged into its worst political crisis, but one which its citizens believe is a reset button and an end to bad governance that has made it poorer with the political elite plundering its wealth.
Gen Z protesters in Nepal
She is a popular figure in Nepal known for her values and stance against corruption which earned her public trust while she served in the top judicial post in 2016.
With the goodwill of ordinary citizens, Karki took on the corrupt establishment, fiercely going for the big fish plundering the nation’s wealth.
After displaying zero tolerance to corruption and going for the big fish in Nepal, the political elite ganged up against her and moved to impeach her just a year into her tenure as chief justice.
Public pressure saw the impeachment proposal as Karki stood firm, refusing to compromise her values but what followed was frustration and sabotage by the government and their associates which made it difficult for her to execute her mandate.
Disillusioned by the turn of events, Karki resigned but she had left a mark that saw her emerge as the favourite to steer the nation out of the current political crisis and to ensure that the discredited political elite who have since gone into hiding are prosecuted for their crimes.
New chapter for Nepal
She was hailed as the perfect choice to lead the Himalayan nation on account of her track record as a lady of integrity who took on powerful interests in a brutal fight that may have cost her the top judicial post
"She faced an impeachment motion... but never lowered her principles. She is the perfect choice to handle Nepal's crisis," Supreme Court lawyer J.L. Bhandari told Reuters.
With no political experience but backed by great leadership experience and values, Karki will assemble an interim team to lead the nation of about 30million.
Nepal's former Chief Justice and newly-appointed Prime Minister Sushila Karki
Karki was born in 1952 in Shankarpur, being the first born in a family of seven children.
Her parents were farmers and struggled to see her through school, and their investment in er education paid off with Karki completing her master's in law from India's Banaras Hindu University and launching her legal practice in 1979.