Nepal elects Ram Chandra Poudel as new President

Ram Chandra Poudel of Nepali Congress was on Thursday elected as the third president of Nepal.

Poudel, a common candidate of the eight-party alliance that included the Nepali Congress and the CPN (Maoist Center), received the vote of 214 lawmakers of parliament and 352 provincial assembly members.

"Hearty congratulations to my friend Ram Candra Poudelji for being elected as the President," Nepali Congress chief Sher Bahadur Deuba tweeted.

The total number of voters for the election of the President is 882, consisting of 332 Members of the Parliament and 550 members of the provincial assemblies of the seven provinces.

Shaligram, the spokesperson of the Election Commission, said 518 Provincial Assembly members and 313 Members of the Federal Parliament cast their votes in the presidential election.

This is the third presidential election in Nepal since the country became a republic in 2008.