Nepal's First Woman President is a Feminist, Communist

The country's Congress elected Wednesday lawmaker Bidya Bhandari as their new president in a historic vote.

Bhandari, 54, was the vice president of the country's Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist Party), and has a long record of activism in gender equality.

During the recent debates over the country's new Republican constitution in September, she fiercely struggled for the inclusion of women's rights.

She won the presidential competition against Kul Bahadur Gurung (from the centrist Nepali Congress party), with a 327 v. 214 vote.

Bhandari became Nepal's second president since the adoption of the new Constitution that put an end to centuries of monarchy. The first president, Ram Baran Yadav, was elected in 2008 and belonged to the Nepali Congress party.

Almost a week earlier, Nepal elected its first woman as the head of the Congress.

Lawmaker Onsari Gharti Magar became the first woman in the country's history to lead the National Congress after being unanimously elected.
Her swearing in ceremony was attended by outgoing president Ram Baran Yadav, Prime Minister Paramananda Jha, along with other lawmakers and ministers.

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