Newly-elected Prime Minister of Nepal痴 interim government Sushila Karki (2L) arrives at the Civil Service Hospital to visit victims injured during clashes with security personnel, in Kathmandu on September 13, 2025. (Photo by Prabin RANABHAT / AFP)
Kathmandu: Nepal's newly appointed interim prime minister began work on Saturday by visiting young protesters wounded in the deadly anti-corruption rallies that ousted her predecessor.
Sushila Karki, the 73-year-old former chief justice, was tasked a day earlier with restoring order and addressing protesters' demands for a corruption-free future ahead of elections in six months.
She has not spoken publicly since being appointed late on Friday, but started her work to restore government by meeting some of the scores wounded in hospital.
Protests began on Monday and quickly escalated, with parliament and key government buildings set ablaze, as they fed into long-standing economic woes in Nepal.
At least 51 people were killed in the worst unrest since the end of a decade-long civil war and the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.
The capital Kathmandu took a step back towards normality on Saturday as a curfew was eased and daily life returned, with markets opening, traffic returning and families visiting temples.
Soldiers scaled back their presence on the streets, where they had been deployed in large numbers since the protests.
"We don't know what will happen in the future now, but we are satisfied today," said Durga Magar, a 23-year-old Kathmandu shopworker.
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.
