Nepal's governing assembly elects the new republic's first president

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Nepal's governing assembly on Monday elected the new republic's first president since it abolished the centuries-old monarchy in May. The Constituent Assembly elected Ram Baran Yadav, a physician from the Madheshi ethnic community in southern Nepal which has been campaigning for greater rights and more say in the administration, assembly Chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung announced. Yadav's victory was a blow for Nepal's former communist rebels, who won the most seats in the assembly in April elections and hope to form the country's new government. Since the dissolution of the monarchy, the assembly has been unable to form a new government because of bickering among the main parties over forming a ruling coalition. The president will swear in the new prime minister, who will run the executive branch.