Kathmandu: Senior Nepali Congress leader Ram Chandra Paudel Monday took the oath of office and secrecy as Nepal’s third President.
At a special ceremony at Sheetal Niwas, the President’s Office, Acting Chief Justice Hari Krishna Karki administered the oath to 78-year-old Paudel.
Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire, National Assembly Chairman Ganesh Prasad Timilsina and other high-ranking government officials were also present on the occasion.
Nepali Congress senior leader Paudel was elected the third President of the country Thursday, defeating Subas Chandra Nembang of the CPN-UML.
Paudel had support from eight political parties.
Out of 52,628 weightage-based votes, Paudel secured 33,802 while Nembang got 15,518 votes.
Former Speaker and multiple-time minister, President Paudel has traversed a long political journey to make it to the country’s highest state position.
He spent over a decade in jail. He was a lawmaker six times, a minister five times, and Speaker for one term.
This is the third presidential election in Nepal since the country became a republic in 2008.
Paudel replaces Bidya Devi Bhandari, whose term ended March 12.
The total number of voters for the election of the President is 882, consisting of 332 Members of the Parliament and 550 members of the provincial assemblies of the seven provinces.
The outcome of the Presidential election comes as a relief for the government headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ as former premier KP Sharma Oli-led CPN-UML withdrew its support to his government following a rift over backing Paudel for the presidential poll.
The term of office of the President will be five years from the date of election and an individual can be elected for the post for only two terms.
Although the post of President is largely ceremonial, Nepal’s political parties have lately shown a growing interest in the post owing to the discretionary powers the Constitution accords to the post.
The Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), which has 14 lawmakers in the House of Representatives and 28 lawmakers in the provincial assemblies, decided to stay neutral in the presidential election. The Nepal Workers and Peasants Party also did not participate in the presidential election.
Born October 14, 1944, in Bahunpokhari in a middle-class farmers’ family, Poudel joined politics at the age of 16. He became the founding central member of the Nepal Students’ Union, the student wing of the Nepali Congress, in 1970.
Paudel was appointed Vice president of the Nepali Congress (banned) Tanhu district committee in 1980. He was elevated to the party’s central working committee in 1987 and headed its publicity committee. He became General Secretary in 2005, Vice President in 2007 and acting president of the party in 2015.
PTI
