Nepal ex-chief justice Sushila Karki named as next PM

Nepal's former chief justice Sushila Karki has been appointed to lead the transition as the country's next prime minister after deadly protests ousted the government, the president's office said Friday.

Karki, 73, Nepal's first woman chief justice, will be sworn into office later on Friday.

The Himalayan nation of 30 million people was plunged into chaos this week after security forces tried to crush rallies by young anti-corruption protesters.

At least 51 people were killed in the worst violence since the end of a civil war and the abolition of the monarchy in 2008.

KP Sharma Oli, the 73-year-old leader of the Communist Party, quit as prime minister on Tuesday. His whereabouts are not known.

"President Ram Chandra Paudel will appoint former chief justice Sushila Karki as the prime minister," presidential press adviser Kiran Pokharel told AFP.

A swearing-in ceremony will take place at 9:00 pm (1515 GMT), he added.

Pokharel said that "a council of ministers will be formed after, and other processes will be taken from there".

The military took back control of the streets on Wednesday, enforcing a curfew, as army chief General Ashok Raj Sigdel and Paudel held talks with representatives from "Gen Z", the loose umbrella title of the youth protest movement.

"It is a moment of victory... finally the power vacuum has ended," Amrita Ban, a Gen Z protester.

Nimesh Shrestha, who was part of the Gen Z protest, told AFP that the demonstrators backed the former judge.

"We have an agreement," he told AFP. "The parliament will be dissolved. Sushila Karki will be the prime minister."