Presidents of Nepal

The President of Nepal is the head of state of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and the symbolic guardian of the constitution. The office was created on 28 May 2008 (15 Jestha 2065 BS), when the first elected Constituent Assembly abolished the 240-year-old Shah monarchy at its opening sitting and declared Nepal a republic. The presidency replaced the king's role with an elected, time-limited and largely ceremonial office.

The presidency is defined in detail by Part 7 (Federal Executive) of the Constitution of Nepal 2015. The President's principal duty is to abide by and protect the constitution and to promote the national unity of Nepal. The role is deliberately non-executive: real executive power rests with the Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister. Apart from a small number of functions the constitution assigns on the recommendation of another body or official, the President exercises all powers on the recommendation and with the consent of the Council of Ministers.

The President's official residence and office is Shital Niwas (Rashtrapati Bhawan) in Kathmandu, where the oath of office is administered by the Chief Justice. The office is supported by a Vice-President, whose role is also largely ceremonial. The President and Vice-President carry the honorific style 'Right Honourable' (Sammananiya).

Although ceremonial, the presidency carries defined constitutional functions. The President is the supreme commander of the Nepal Army, appoints the Chief of Army Staff on the recommendation of the government, and is the formal authority through whom many state appointments, treaties and laws are completed. Bills passed by the Federal Parliament become law only after the President's authentication.

The President is elected indirectly by an electoral college rather than by direct popular vote. The college is made up of the members of the Federal Parliament (the House of Representatives and the National Assembly) together with the members of the seven provincial assemblies. To balance the federal and provincial tiers, the votes are weighted: federal lawmakers and provincial-assembly members are assigned different vote weightages set by federal law, so the outcome reflects both Parliament and the provinces.

A candidate must be at least 45 years old and qualified to be a member of the Federal Parliament. The President serves a five-year term and may be elected for a maximum of two terms. If no candidate wins a majority of the electoral college in the first round, a second round is held between the two leading candidates, and the one securing more than half the votes is declared elected. Because the office is filled by Parliament and the provinces, the presidency typically goes to the candidate of the governing coalition.

Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, born in 1948, is a physician and a long-serving Nepali Congress politician who became the first President of Nepal. He was elected by the first Constituent Assembly and took office on 23 July 2008, with Chief Justice Kedar Prasad Giri administering the oath at Shital Niwas. He won in a second round of voting on 21 July 2008, receiving 308 of the 590 votes cast and defeating Ram Raja Prasad Singh, the candidate backed by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

Before the presidency, Yadav served as Minister of Health (1999–2001) and as general secretary of the Nepali Congress. As the republic's first head of state he established many of the office's ceremonial precedents during the long, contested process of drafting a new constitution. His term ran until 29 October 2015, when his successor was sworn in following promulgation of the Constitution of Nepal in September 2015.

Bidya Devi Bhandari, born in 1961, became the second President of Nepal and the country's first woman head of state. A senior leader and former vice-chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), she had earlier chaired the All Nepal Women's Association and served as Nepal's first female Minister of Defence (2009–2011). She was elected on 28 October 2015 under the new constitution, defeating Kul Bahadur Gurung of the Nepali Congress, and took office on 29 October 2015.

She is the only president so far to serve two terms. On 13 March 2018 she was re-elected for a second term, defeating the Nepali Congress candidate Kumari Laxmi Rai by a wide margin. Her presidency saw several high-profile constitutional moments, including the dissolution of the House of Representatives in December 2020 and again in May 2021 on the recommendation of Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli — decisions later overturned by the Supreme Court — and her refusal in 2022 to authenticate a citizenship amendment bill passed by Parliament. Her tenure ended on 13 March 2023.

Ram Chandra Paudel (also spelled Poudel), born in 1944, is the third and current President of Nepal. A veteran Nepali Congress leader, he previously served as Speaker of the House of Representatives (1994–1999) and as Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (1999–2002), and was Leader of the Opposition in the years that followed.

He was the candidate of the Nepali Congress and a ten-party alliance in the 2023 presidential election, held on 9 March 2023, in which he defeated Subas Chandra Nembang of the CPN (UML). He was sworn in as President on 13 March 2023. In keeping with the office's non-partisan character, Paudel stepped back from his party responsibilities after assuming the presidency.