President of Nepal: All Presidents, Vice-Presidents & Speakers

When Nepal's Constituent Assembly abolished the 240-year-old Shah monarchy and declared a federal democratic republic on 28 May 2008 (15 Jestha 2065 BS), it created the office of President of Nepal to serve as head of state in place of the king. Unlike the former monarch, the President is a largely ceremonial figure. Executive power rests with the Prime Minister and the Council of Ministers, and the President ordinarily acts on their advice.

The office was first defined under the Interim Constitution of 2007 and then re-established by the Constitution of Nepal 2015 (2072 BS), promulgated on 20 September 2015. Part 6 of that constitution (Articles 61 to 73) governs the President and Vice-President. Article 61 states there shall be a President of Nepal who is the head of state, symbolising national unity, and whose foremost duty is to abide by and protect the constitution.

The President's official residence and office is Sheetal Niwas in Maharajgunj, Kathmandu. The President is styled 'Right Honourable' and is the supreme commander of the Nepal Army, though command is exercised on the recommendation of the government. The office is deliberately kept above day-to-day politics: most presidential acts, from summoning parliament to appointing the Prime Minister, follow constitutional rules or the advice of the Council of Ministers.

Nepal's President is not directly elected by the public. Under Article 62 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015, the President is chosen by an electoral college made up of the voting members of both houses of the Federal Parliament (the House of Representatives and the National Assembly) together with the members of all seven Provincial Assemblies. This mirrors the indirect, parliamentary-style election used in several republics.

The votes are weighted so that federal and provincial legislators do not carry equal individual weight. A member of the Federal Parliament and a member of a Provincial Assembly are each assigned a fixed vote value calculated under law, giving federal lawmakers a higher per-head weighting than provincial members. In the 2023 election, for example, each federal parliamentarian's vote was weighted higher than each provincial assembly member's vote, and the winner needed a majority of the total weighted votes cast.

To be elected President a candidate must, under Article 64, be qualified to be a member of the Federal Parliament, have completed at least 45 years of age, and not be disqualified by any law. Article 63 sets the President's term at five years, and Article 64 bars anyone who has already been elected President twice from standing again, creating an effective two-term limit.

Dr Ram Baran Yadav, a physician and Nepali Congress leader from Dhanusha, became the first President of Nepal. He was elected by the Constituent Assembly on 21 July 2008, winning a second-round vote with 308 of the 590 votes cast, and was sworn in on 23 July 2008. He served until 29 October 2015, steering the ceremonial office through a turbulent transition that included repeated changes of government and the drafting of the new constitution.

Bidya Devi Bhandari, a CPN-UML leader, made history as the first woman President of Nepal. She was elected on 28 October 2015, defeating Nepali Congress candidate Kul Bahadur Gurung, and was re-elected for a second term on 13 March 2018. Her presidency ran from 29 October 2015 to 13 March 2023. A long-standing advocate for women's rights, her election was a landmark for gender representation at the highest level of the Nepali state.

Ram Chandra Paudel, a veteran Nepali Congress leader and former Speaker of the House, is the third and current President. He was elected on 9 March 2023, defeating Subas Chandra Nembang of the CPN-UML in the electoral college, and was sworn in on 13 March 2023. His long parliamentary career includes multiple ministerial posts and a term as Speaker in the 1990s, making him one of the most experienced politicians to hold the office.

The President's functions, duties and powers are set out mainly in Article 66 of the Constitution. As a rule, the President performs all functions on the recommendation and with the consent of the Council of Ministers, submitted through the Prime Minister, except where the constitution or federal law specifically assigns a duty to be done on the recommendation of another body or official. This keeps real executive authority with the elected government.

In practice the President appoints the Prime Minister and, on the PM's recommendation, other ministers; summons, prorogues and addresses sessions of the Federal Parliament; authenticates bills passed by parliament so they become law; and, where the constitution allows, issues ordinances when parliament is not in session. The President also appoints many constitutional officials and judges on the recommendation of the relevant bodies, receives the credentials of foreign ambassadors, and confers state honours and titles.

The President has certain reserve and discretionary functions, such as returning a bill to parliament for reconsideration, and acts in the process of forming a government when no party commands a clear majority. The President can grant pardons and commute or remit sentences. Because the office is ceremonial, however, presidential discretion is narrow and has occasionally been the subject of constitutional dispute and Supreme Court review.

The Constitution also creates the office of Vice-President as deputy to the President. The Vice-President is elected by the same electoral college and, under Article 91-related succession provisions in Part 6, performs the duties of the President when the office of President falls vacant (through resignation, removal or death) until a new President is elected. There is a convention that the President and Vice-President should come from different communities, reflecting Nepal's diversity.

Nepal has had three Vice-Presidents. Parmanand Jha of the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum was the first, serving from 23 July 2008 to 31 October 2015; his tenure was marked by a controversy over taking his oath in Hindi. Nanda Bahadur Pun 'Pasang', a former Maoist commander of the CPN (Maoist Centre), served as second Vice-President from 31 October 2015 to March 2023.

Ram Sahaya Prasad Yadav of the People's Socialist Party, Nepal (Janata Samajbadi Party) is the current Vice-President. He was elected on 17 March 2023 and sworn in on 20 March 2023. The Vice-President's role is otherwise limited: the office carries no independent executive power and functions mainly as a standby for the presidency and in ceremonial capacities.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives (Sabhamukh) presides over Nepal's lower house of parliament, keeps order in debate, decides points of order, and certifies money bills. Under Article 91 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015, the House elects a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from among its members; the two must come from different parties, and one of the two positions must be held by a woman. The Speaker is expected to act impartially once elected.

After the 1990 People's Movement restored multiparty democracy, Daman Nath Dhungana of the Nepali Congress became the first Speaker of the restored House of Representatives, serving from 1991 to 1994 and setting several enduring parliamentary precedents. He was followed by Ram Chandra Paudel (1994-1999) - later President - and Taranath Ranabhat (1999-2006), both of the Nepali Congress, and then by Subas Chandra Nembang of the CPN-UML.

In the federal republican era the House has been chaired by leaders including Onsari Gharti Magar, who in October 2015 became the first woman Speaker in Nepal's history (in the Legislature-Parliament), followed by Krishna Bahadur Mahara, Agni Prasad Sapkota, and Dev Raj Ghimire. When the office of Speaker is vacant or the Speaker is absent, the Deputy Speaker performs the Speaker's functions, ensuring the House can continue to sit.

Together, the President, Vice-President and Speaker embody the ceremonial, unifying and legislative faces of Nepal's federal democratic republic. The President and Vice-President represent the continuity of the state above party politics, while the Speaker safeguards the functioning and impartiality of parliament, the body from which the government draws its authority.

These offices are also central to civics and public-service examinations in Nepal, where questions about the first President, the first woman President, and the Speaker of the House are common. Understanding how each is chosen - the President and Vice-President by a weighted electoral college, the Speaker by a direct vote of the House - is key to understanding how power flows in the post-2008 republican settlement.

Because the constitution deliberately separates ceremonial headship from executive power, disputes over the limits of presidential discretion have periodically reached the Supreme Court, helping to define the boundaries of each office. For the most current holders and any changes after this page was written, readers should consult the official Office of the President and the Federal Parliament Secretariat websites.