Sushila Karki: The Chief Justice Who Governed Nepal for Five Months

Between October 2025 and 27 March 2026, Nepal was governed by Sushila Karki — a retired Chief Justice appointed as Interim Prime Minister following the resignation of KP Sharma Oli amid the Gen Z uprising.

Karki was Nepal's first female Chief Justice, appointed in 2022. Her tenure on the Supreme Court was marked by several landmark rulings, including decisions on federalism disputes and constitutional interpretation. She was widely regarded as independent of the major political parties — a characteristic that made her acceptable to the youth movement demanding a clean break from the establishment.

As Interim PM, Karki's mandate was narrow: stabilise the government, hold credible elections, and hand over power to whoever won. She executed this mandate with minimal controversy. The March 2026 elections proceeded on schedule, were judged by domestic and international observers to be largely free and fair, and produced a clear result.

Karki did not stand as a candidate in the election. She returned to private life on 27 March 2026 when Balendra Shah was sworn in.

Her role illustrates a feature of Nepal's constitutional design that proved useful: the provision for an independent caretaker government during electoral periods, drawn from outside the political class.

This is Nepal Next's profile of Sushila Karki. The full intelligence profile is maintained in our Leadership Intelligence section.