Nepal's president appoints interim premier after fiery protests collapse previous administration

Nepal's former chief justness Sushila Karki has been elect as the country's meantime leader, said an functionary from the nepali president's office, after violent anti-corruption protests forced Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign this week.

Karki, 73, the only woman to have held the post of chief justice of the Supreme Court of Nepal, will take oath on Friday, Archana Khadka Adhikari, information officer at the president's office, said.

The Himalayan nation's worst upheaval in years, which killed 51 people this week and injured more than 1,300 as police fought to control crowds, was sparked by a social media ban, now rolled back. The violence subsided only after Oli resigned.

Wedged between India and China, Nepal has grappled with political and economic instability since the abolition of its monarchy in 2008, while a lack of jobs drives millions to seek work in other countries and send money home.

Shops began reopening on Friday, among signs that normalcy was returning in the capital of Kathmandu, with cars in the streets and police personnel taking up batons instead of the guns they carried earlier in the week.

Some roads stayed blocked, though streets were patrolled by fewer soldiers than before. Authorities began handing to families the bodies of their loved ones killed in the protests.

"While his friends backed off [from the protests], he decided to go ahead," Karuna Budhathoki said of her 23-year-old nephew, as she waited to collect his body at Kathmandu's Teaching Hospital.

"We were told he was brought dead to the hospital."

Nepal’s anti-government protests, explained

The 51 dead included 21 protesters, nine prisoners, three police officers and 18 others, police spokesperson Binod Ghimire said, without elaborating.

Another protester who died, Ashab Alam Thakurai, 24, got married only a month earlier, his relatives said.

"The last we spoke to him ... He said he was stuck with the protest. After that we could not contact him ... Eventually we found him in the morgue," said his uncle, Zulfikar Alam.

The military in Nepal, which has also fought a bloody Maoist rebellion, is rarely mobilized in the Himalayan nation. It is also not known for battling enemy troops at the border and has mostly been confined to barracks. It is normally sought out only when there are floods, landslides or rescues during earthquakes.

Yet it is hugely popular. In the past, it has restored order in difficult times, particularly during the massive pro-democracy protests in the 1990 and the 2006 anti-monarchy demonstrations that ended with the abolition of the monarchy.

Nepal's troops have also been part of United Nations peacekeeping forces for the past six decades, serving in conflict areas in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Nepal currently is the biggest contributor of troops to the UN peacekeeping missions.

Smoke billows from Nepal’s parliament during anti-government protests

Since 2008, when Nepal became a republic, the army has tried to stay away from politics. Occasionally it gets dragged in when political leaders decide who will lead the armed forces.

This week's deadly protests, however, could very well be the greatest challenge it has faced. 

But with the army stepping up, many people are breathing a sigh of relief, in contrast to some other countries where citizens are usually fearful of the military taking over the civilian government in moments of crisis.

"It was a very abnormal situation in Nepal, which the army was successful in bringing back to control to further prevent loss of lives and property. They were able to take control in an emergency situation and turn the abnormal situation to normal," said Geja Sharma Wagle, a Kathmandu-based security and strategic affairs analyst.

So far, the military has been successful in bringing calm, quelling a jailbreak in the heart of the capital, Kathmandu, and initiating talks with the protesters on naming a transitional leader. On Friday, Nepal's president, army officials and representatives from various protesting groups held meetings to decide on a name.

This arrangement appears strikingly similar to the one in Bangladesh last year where a student-led protest movement led to the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Afterward, protest leaders and the army chose an interim government led by the Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus.

After the protests began in Nepal, President Ram Chandra Poudel, whose role is largely ceremonial, had asked Prime Minister Oli to lead a caretaker government. But Oli fled from his official residence on Tuesday, and his whereabouts were not clear.

Wagle said the transition may not be easy and warned the military should stay away from interfering in politics.

"The army should not be involved in politics themselves but rather assist the president in getting the issues resolved with the protesting groups. Their role is to facilitate, support and assist wherever it needs to be. It is not suitable for the army to be involved in politics, which could draw them into much unwanted controversies," he said.

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