Nepal Crisis: Sushila Karki May Become Interim PM But What About the Parliament?

A source said efforts are ongoing to find a way to appoint a non-MP as PM without dissolving the Parliament.

Sushila Karki is the frontrunner to become leader of Nepal's interim government. President Ram Chandra Poudel has held several rounds of negotiations with multiple stakeholders to discuss the transition of power.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint) 

Sushila Karki, the former Chief Justice of Nepal, is likely to be appointed as interim prime minister. But efforts are ongoing to find a way to appoint a non-Member of Parliament (MP) for the top job without dissolving Parliament.

Nepal President Ram Chandra Poudel is reluctant to dissolve Parliament to appoint Karki as leader of the interim government, a senior constitutional lawyer, who was among a group of consultants called by the President for a meeting on Thursday, 11 September, told The Quint.

Karki's candidature has been endorsed by the 'Gen-Z' protesters, who led two days of protests on 8-9 September and toppled the government of KP Sharma Oli.

Following the revolt, the President and Army Chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel had invited several stakeholders, including constitutional lawyers, for talks to decide on the way forward.

The senior lawyer said that while Poudel does not have a problem in appointing Karki in the post, he does not want to dissolve Parliament to do so. Nepal's Constitution states that the Prime Minister must be an MP, which Karki is not.

"President Poudel had earlier been insisting that the next Prime Minister should be among the MPs. Appointing Sushila Karki to the post would mean dissolving the Parliament—which he does not want to do," the lawyer told The Quint.

'President Exploring Legal Options To Appoint Karki'

He further said that there is no constitutional provision that allows for someone who is not an MP to become Prime Minister.

"If Parliament exists, the PM must be a member of Parliament," he added.

However, the meeting that took place was to find a legal loophole in order to appoint Karki in the post without having to dissolve Parliament.

The lawyer said that consultations ended in a stalemate as the 'Gen-Z' protesters were not willing to budge from their ultimate demand to dissolve the Parliament.

In the immediate aftermath of the protests, the Army had evacuated President Poudel from the presidential palace, his official residence. However, after peace was restored, the President was brought back and negotiations have been ongoing from within the inner part of the palace—which did not sustain any damage during the protests.

Further, there have been several rumours doing the rounds of an Army-led takeover of the country and implementation of martial law. Speculation was also rife that the Army Chief has been in talks with former King of Nepal Gyanendra Shah to initiate rule by the monarchy once again.

However, a senior Army Colonel dismissed the rumours.

"Yesterday evening there were rumours afloat that the Army has sided with the king and the monarchy is coming back. This is just a rumour and nothing of this sort is in the works," the Colonel confirmed to The Quint.

Meanwhile, a second round of talks is ongoing since the morning on Friday, 12 September, on who will lead the country. Apart from President Poudel, Army Chief Sigdel, and former Chief Justice Karki, Sudan Gurung, a representative of the 'Gen-Z' protesters, is also in attendance apart from former prime ministers Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda'—who have joined virtually.

Who Is Sushila Karki—the Frontrunner for PM? 

At 73, Sushila Karki stands as the clear frontrunner to lead the embattled nation. Once celebrated as Nepal’s first woman Chief Justice, she has now been urged by several sections of protesters to contend for the post.

Karki pursued law at Tribhuvan University after completing a master’s degree in political science at Banaras Hindu University in India. Her legal career began in 1979, and she was appointed Nepal’s first female Chief Justice in 2016.

As a judge, she mostly presided over cases involving corruption and human rights, often siding with transparency against political pressures, observers say.

Known to be fearless, vocal, and incorruptible, her brief tenure as Nepal’s Chief Justice only cemented her image. In 2017, she faced impeachment proceedings widely seen as retaliation for her uncompromising judgments, but she ultimately survived the attempt.

In a recent virtual meeting, a group of organisers of the protest selected Karki as their candidate. “When they requested me, I accepted,” she told CNN-News18. “I have a good impression of [Narendra] Modi ji,” she added in Hindi during the interview.