Nepal’s First Woman Leader Rises From the Ashes of Protest

Kathmandu hasn’t seen a week like this in years — blood on the streets, a Prime Minister toppled, and now a surprise new face at the top.

Sushila Karki, 73, former chief justice and known straight-talker, is about to become Nepal’s first woman leader. Not through party politics or backroom deals, but because furious protesters demanded someone they actually trusted.

The “Gen Z” uprising, fuelled by anger over corruption and a clumsy social media ban, left 51 dead and more than 1,300 injured. With streets in flames and youth refusing to back down, K.P. Sharma Oli had no choice but to quit. Into the vacuum stepped Karki — called honest, incorruptible, and just enough of an outsider to calm the chaos.

By 9:15 p.m. Friday, she will take the oath of office. Two ministers will stand beside her, but all eyes will be on the woman who once ruled Nepal’s courts and now holds its shaky politics in her hands.

For families of the fallen, the victory is bittersweet. At Kathmandu’s Teaching Hospital, Karuna Budhathoki waited for her nephew’s body. “His friends backed off, but he went ahead,” she said, voice breaking. A few steps away, relatives of Ashab Alam Thakurai, just 24 and married only a month ago, wept as they prepared for his funeral.

Shops are reopening, soldiers are retreating, but wounds — both physical and political — run deep.

 In Nepal, a leader has fallen, a woman has risen, and a generation has proven it can bring a nation to its knees. Whether Karki is a saviour or just a stopgap, one thing is clear: the streets chose her, not the politicians.