Lawmakers elect Nepal’s first female president

By Deepak Adhikari

KATHMANDU, Nepal

Nepalese lawmakers on Wednesday elected a ruling party leader as the country’s first female president.

Bidhya Devi Bhandari, vice chairperson of the Unified Marxist-Leninist party, defeated her rival Kul Bahadur Gurung from the opposition Nepali Congress.

“Bidhya Devi Bhandari secured 327 votes. Therefore, she’s the winner,” Onsari Gharti Magar, a newly elected female speaker of the parliament, announced.

Gurung, a veteran politician representing an ethnic minority group, received 214 votes.

Bhandari is the 54-year-old widow of late communist Madan Bhandari, a charismatic leader of the UML, who died in a car accident in May 1993.

Bhandari began her political career in the 1970s as a member of a student organization. She rose through the party ranks after her husband’s death.

Nepal promulgated a post-war constitution in September, fulfilling one of the key tasks of the peace process begun in 2006 after former Maoist rebels laid down their arms.

Ram Baran Yadav, the outgoing president and a veteran politician of the Nepali Congress, held the largely ceremonial position, for seven years.