Nepal Government To Elect First President

Nepal's governing assembly began voting Monday to elect the new republic's first president since it abolished the centuries-old monarchy in May.

Constituent Assembly members were choosing between two candidates — Ram Baran Yadav of the Nepali Congress party and independent politician Ramraja Singh — in Monday's election.

The winning candidate must secure at least half of the 594 votes in the assembly.

Yadav could be the strongest candidate, with the backing of his party, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) and Madhesi People's Rights Forum — the second, third and fourth largest parties. He secured the most votes in initial voting on Saturday.

"I am confident I will win the election today. Apart from the three parties in our new alliance I have been pledged support by a few other smaller parties today," Yadav told reporters.

Singh is backed by the dominant Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

Saturday's election was not a success because none of the three candidates were able to secure the required majority. Yadav secured 283 votes and Singh garnered 270. The third candidate, Ram Prit Paswan, got no votes.

Constituent Assembly chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung announced the second round of voting, with the top two candidates from Saturday's election.

The Maoists won the most seats in the Constituent Assembly in April elections. Since the dissolution of the monarchy, the assembly has been unable to form a new government because the main parties have bickered over forming a ruling coalition.

The president will swear in the new prime minister, who will run the executive branch.