Nepal's interim PM Sushila Karki vows to follow protesters' demands to 'end corruption'

NEW DELHI, September 14: Nepal's interim Prime Minister Sushila Karki vowed on September 14 to follow protesters' demands to "end corruption" as she began work. Gen Z youth ousted her predecessor KP Sharma Oli through violent demonstrations last week.

- S VENKAT NARAYAN

Ms Karki, aged 73, is a former Chief Justice. She is her country's first woman Chief Justice as well as first woman Prime Minister.

She has been tasked with restoring order and addressing protesters' demands for a corruption-free future ahead of elections in six months. She was educated at the Benares Hindu University in Varanasi in India's Uttar Pradesh state.

Protests against the previous government began on September 8. They were sparked by a ban on social media and quickly escalated.

Parliament and key government buildings were set ablaze as they fed into long-standing economic woes in Nepal.

"What this group is demanding is end of corruption, good governance and economic equality," she added. "You and I have to be determined to fulfil that." 'From the streets' "We have to work according to the thinking of the Gen Z generation," said Ms Karki, in her first public comments since taking office on Friday.

A fifth of people in Nepal aged 15-24 are unemployed, according to the World Bank, with GDP per capita standing at just $1,447.