In an election overshadowed by political instability, Nepal elected Ram Chandra Poudel as its President Thursday (March 9).
With the vote of 214 lawmakers of Parliament and 352 provincial assembly members, Poudel, 78, secured a comfortable victory over rival Subas Chandra Nebmang. 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.
Poudel’s easy passage to the President’s post was preceeded by political turmoil — the Unified Marxist Leninist (UML) and the Maoist Centre, the two big Communist parties of Nepal that had come together just two months ago to form a coalition government, parted ways over the choice of presidential candidates. The Maoist Centre, headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, decided to support Poudel, from the main opposition the Nepali Congress. The UML candidate was Nembang. The Prime Minister’s decision prompted the pro-monarchy Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) to pull out of the Cabinet and announce withdrawal of support to the government.