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Ram Yadav elected 1st Nepali president

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-21 21:28

KATHMANDU - Ram Baran Yadav from Nepali Congress (NC) was elected the first Nepali president, the Constituent Assembly (CA) speaker declared on Monday afternoon.

Ram Baran Yadav greets his colleagues at Parliament House in Kathmandu July 21, 2008. Yadav of the Nepali Congress made history on Monday by becoming the first president of the new Himalayan republic. [Agencies]

CA speaker Kul Bahadur Gurung declared that Ram Yadav with 308 votes won in the second-round president election on Monday was elected the first president of the world's youngest federal democratic republic.

Ram Yadav's rival, Ram Raja Prasad Singh nominated by the single largest CA party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) ( CPN-M), won 282 votes.

Gurung also declared the election for the speaker is set at local time 11:00 (0515 GMT) on July 24, the coming Thursday. Gurung temporarily held the post of CA speaker as the second age- senior member in CA after the most senior Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala.