Poudel elected new Nepal President

Kathmandu, March 9

Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress was on Thursday elected as the new president of Nepal, in a relief to the fragile coalition government headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda as his gamble to break ties with the second largest party in Parliament — CPN-UML — seems to have paid off.

Poudel, a common candidate of the eight-party alliance that included Nepali Congress and Prachanda-led CPN (Maoist Center), received the vote of 214 lawmakers of parliament and 352 provincial assembly members.

“Congratulations to my friend Ram Candra Poudel ji,” Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba tweeted.

Later, the election commission officially announced 78-year-old Poudel’s victory. This is the third presidential election in Nepal since the country became a republic in 2008.

Prime Minister Prachanda also congratulated the President-elect.