(Corrects timeline in second paragraph to ‘this week’ not ‘last week’)
By Gopal Sharma and Aftab Ahmed
KATHMANDU (Reuters) – Nepal’s former chief justice, Sushila Karki, is likely to be appointed as interim prime minister, a source aware of the talks told Reuters on Friday, after intense anti-graft protests led to the resignation of K.P. Sharma Oli.
The Himalayan nation’s worst upheaval in years, which killed 34 people this week and injured more than 1,300 as police fought to control crowds, was sparked by a social media ban, now rolled back. The violence subsided only after Oli resigned.
“Sushila Karki will be appointed interim prime minister,” said a constitutional expert consulted by President Ramchandra Paudel and army chief Ashok Raj Sigdel, who sought anonymity as the negotiations are sensitive.
“They (Gen Z) want her. This will happen today,” the source added, referring to the ‘Gen Z’ protesters whose popular name derives from the age of most participants.
Karki’s appointment is likely to be formally made following a meeting at Paudel’s residence, set for 9 a.m. (0315 GMT), according to a Gen Z source involved in the talks.
The president’s office and the army spokesperson did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the matter.
Wedged between India and China, Nepal has grappled with political and economic instability since the abolition of its monarchy in 2008, while a lack of jobs drives millions to seek work in other countries and send money home.
Shops began reopening on Friday, among signs that normalcy was returning in the capital of Kathmandu, with cars in the streets and police personnel taking up batons instead of the guns they carried earlier in the week.
Some roads stayed blocked, however, and soldiers continued to patrol the streets, though fewer than before.
(Reporting by Gopal Sharma and Aftab Ahmed; Writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
