Nepal’s new interim prime minister moved swiftly Monday, naming her first cabinet picks just days after anti-corruption protests toppled the government and left more than 70 dead.
Sushila Karki, 73, a former chief justice and the country’s first woman prime minister, swore in three heavyweight ministers in a televised ceremony held outside the fire-scorched presidential office. She faces the immediate task of calming public fury and steering Nepal toward elections in March.
Om Prakash Aryal, a prominent anti-graft lawyer, was handed the powerful home and law portfolios. Kulman Ghising, celebrated for ending the nation’s crippling power blackouts, will oversee energy, infrastructure, and transport. Rameshwor Khanal, a respected economist and former finance secretary, takes the finance ministry a daunting role as unemployment and economic despair fuel unrest.
The protests erupted September 8 after a government ban on social media, quickly spiraling into the worst violence since the civil war ended in 2006 and the monarchy’s abolition two years later. Parliament and several government buildings were torched in the chaos, The News Chronicle gathered.
At least 72 people were killed and nearly 200 remain hospitalized, officials say.
