Sushila Karki to take oath as Nepal's interim leader after deal between Gen Z groups & govt: Report

Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki will be Nepal’s interim leader after ‘Gen Z’ groups and President Ram Chandra Paudel reached an agreement about the formation of the new government, according to Nepali media.

As part of the deal, Paudel has agreed to dissolve the parliament, the reports said.

Karki will take oath tonight at 8:45 pm (Nepal time) at Shital Niwas, Nepal’s presidential palace, Om Prakash Aryal, who was part of the talks, told Kantipur newspaper.

Nagarik newspaper reported that Karki will take oath with two ministers. The identities of ministers were not reported.

Karki will be the first woman to be the Prime Minister of Nepal.

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The development has come after days of intense talks between various youth groups part of the anti-corruption protest that erupted on Monday and Paudel. The Nepali Army has been facilitating these talks. Deep divisions had emerged in these talks between various youth groups with different groups and factions pushing different names for the country’s interim leadership and different types of governance structure for the country.

The two sides were also divided about the question of the parliament, with youth groups and Karki pushing for the parliament’s dissolution and Paudel suggesting that the parliament should remain.

What about constitutional hurdles to Karki’s appointment?

Earlier in the day, it was reported that there was an all-party consensus about Karki as the country’s interim leader despite previous reports of disagreements, but differences about the parliament’s fate and some constitutional issues prevented any agreement.

The biggest hurdle to Karki’s appointment as the interim prime minister was the Nepali constitutional provision that bars a judge from taking up any role in the government outside of the judiciary, but constitutional experts suggested workarounds.

“No person who has once held the office of Chief Justice or a Judge of the Supreme Court shall be eligible for appointment to any government office, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution,” says Article 132 of the Constitution of Nepal.

Previously, Kantipur reported that some constitutional experts advised Paudel that he could appoint Karki as the interim prime minister on the basis of a maximalist interpretation of Article 61 (4) of the constitution that says that “the main duty of the President shall be to abide by and protect this Constitution”.

These experts said that Paudel could appoint Karki by claiming under this provision that such an appointment would save the constitution, the report said.

“Either a prime minister must be appointed from within the parliament, but in the current situation, no member of parliament seems acceptable. In such a situation, in the capacity of the protector of the constitution, a person who is not a member of parliament can be appointed prime minister for the purpose of holding an election. It is likely that the President is in favor of giving a quick resolution by relying on this very article,” a constitutional expert involved in consultations with Paudel told the newspaper.

It is not yet clear how these constitutional questions will be addressed.

Kantipur has reported that Paudel did not want to dissolve the parliament but agreed to the dissolution under pressure from youth groups.