Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki takes oath as Nepal's first woman prime minister
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Kathmandu (PTI): Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki took oath as Nepal’s first woman prime minister on Friday, to lead an interim government, ending days of political uncertainty after the abrupt resignation of prime minister K P Sharma Oli earlier this week following wide-spread protests.
President Ramchandra Paudel administered the oath of office to Karki, 73, at the President’s Office.
Besides President Paudel and the newly-elected prime minister, Vice President Ram Sahay Yadav and Chief Justice Prakash Man Singh Rawat were present during the occasion.
President Paudel said the new caretaker government is mandated to hold fresh parliamentary elections within six months.
Earlier, after hectic consultations and negotiations among various stakeholders Karki's name was announced as the head of the caretaker government.
Karki was chosen to lead the interim government after a meeting between President Paudel, Nepal's top military brass, and the youth protesters, who spearheaded the anti-government protests
A meeting held between President Paudel, the Nepal Army chief and representatives of the 'Gen Z' protesters agreed on Karki's name to head the interim government.
Soon after taking oath, Karki will form a small cabinet and at its first meeting of the cabinet, she is likely to recommend to the president dissolution of the Parliament as per an understanding reached among various stakeholders, sources said.
President Paudel also consulted leaders of all major political parties, legal experts and civil society leaders separately before deciding to appoint Karki as the caretaker prime minister.
Oli quit on Tuesday following the violent youth-led agitation.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
