Student protesters named Nepal’s former chief justice and longtime anti-corruption crusader Sushila Karki as the country’s caretaker prime minister Friday, following deadly anti-corruption demonstrations that toppled the government.
The 73-year-old was chosen after Nepal’s army consulted with student leaders on a Discord server where more than 100,000 Nepalis gathered to discuss the country’s future: “The Parliament of Nepal right now is Discord,” one told The New York Times.
Karki, Nepal’s first woman leader, is tasked with surmounting a period of unprecedented chaos, after a social media ban ignited widespread anti-government youth protests that saw the country’s parliament and prominent politicians’ homes being burned down. The prime minister resigned after a police crackdown claimed more than 50 lives.
Karki will form a cabinet in the coming days, and eventually schedule elections, an adviser told the Times.