78-year-old, Ram Chandra Poudel, a veteran Nepali Congress leader takes oath as the third President for the fourth presidential term of the Republic of Nepal. Acting Chief Justice of Nepal, Hari Krishna Karki, administered the oath of office to Poudel at a ceremony at Sheetal Niwas, the President’s Office.
He succeeds Bidhya Devi Bhandari, the second president of Nepal, whose tenure ended on March 12, 2023.
Poudel was elected to the top constitutional post of Nepal in the recently held presidential election on March 9, 2023 where he was fielded as a common candidate of the eight-party alliance including Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’-led CPN (Maoist-Center) and Nepali Congress led by Sher Bahadur Deuba. Subas Chandra Nemwang another veteran leader of CPN(UML) was fielded as an opposition candidate by former Prime Minister, K P Sharma Oli.
Poudel had received the vote of 214 lawmakers of the parliament and 352 provincial assembly members. The total number of voters for the election of the President was 882, consisting of 332 members of the Parliament and 550 members of the provincial assemblies of the seven provinces of which according to the Election Commission of Nepal, 518 provincial assembly members and 313 members of the parliament had casted their vote in the presidential election.
Poudel had received 65.54% of the total votes with the electoral vote of 33,802 as against 31.46% received by Nemwang with the electoral vote of 15,518.
Born in a middle-class family of Bahunpokhari on October 14, 1944, Poudel had joined politics in the very young age of 16 and became the founding member of Nepal Student’s Union, the student wing of Nepali Congress. He was elected to the House of Representatives from Tanhu District for the first time in 1991 and consecutively for six terms thereafter. He served in the Nepal Government under various portfolios including Speaker of the House of Representatives, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister.
Ram Chandra Poudel will be the third President for the fourth presidential term of the Nation since Nepal declared itself a Federal Republic in 2008 abolishing the institution of Monarchy. Dr. Ram Baran Yadav was the first president of Nepal succeeded by outgoing President Bidhya Devi Bhandari.