Former Chief Justice of Nepal Sushila Karki, whose candidacy for the post of interim head of government was supported by the army and protesters after the unrest that engulfed the country, hopes to hold elections within a year. According to Armenpress, she said this in an interview with a local TV channel.
“First of all, it is necessary to restore peace. I am not saying that I will be able to carry out large-scale economic reforms. My mission is to organize elections and hand over power to the new leadership,” Karki emphasized in an interview with News18. She added that in the current situation, it is important to exclude any financial influence on the outcome of the elections and guarantee their fairness.
According to her, organizing the elections could take from six months to a year. “I am not a professional politician, I am a judge, and I do not have long-term political ambitions,” Karki emphasized, not ruling out that new or younger leaders could be elected as a result of the elections.
Since the beginning of the week, Nepal has been rocked by mass protests against corruption and the country’s social media ban. The protests led to the resignation of Prime Minister Sharma Oli. On September 9, the government lifted the ban on social media amid the protests.
Karki served as Nepal’s Chief Justice from 2016 to 2017, becoming the first woman to hold the position. She is known for her support for fighting corruption in the judiciary.
After leaving her position as a judge, she became a civil society activist.