KATHMANDU: Communist leader Vidya Devi Bhandari was today elected as Nepal’s first woman President by the parliament, weeks after it adopted a new landmark Constitution that declared the country a secular state.
54-year-old Bhandari, the Vice-president of CPN-UML and widow of late general secretary of the party Madan Bhandari, secured 327 votes against 214 votes of her rival veteran Nepali Congress leader Kul Bahadur Gurung.
“I announce that Vidya Devi Bhandari has been elected to the post of Nepal’s president,” Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar said, to loud cheers from lawmakers.
She succeeds incumbent Ram Baran Yadav who was elected as the country’s first President in 2008 after Nepal was declared a Republic following the abolition of a 240-year-old monarchy.
With the promulgation of the Constitution on September 20, it was required to elect a new President within a month of the commencement of the Parliament session.
In her first public statement as the President, Bhandari said the new Constitution would work for Nepal’s sovereignty and independence during her tenure.
She said the charter promulgated from the Constituent Assembly last month would protect sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity.
Bhandari said her election was a step ahead in the process of implementing the Constitution as per its spirit. (AGENCIES)
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