NEPAL’S parliament elected the country’s first female president yesterday. Communist Party of Nepal — Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) vice-chair Bidhya Devi Bhandari was elected by 327 votes to 214 for Nepali Congress party leader Kul Bahadur Gurung.She was supported by the Unified Communist Party of Nepal — Maoist and the monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RRP).

Former defence minister Ms Bhandari is an active campaigner for women’s rights in Nepal and was among the politicians who campaigned for ensuring women’s rights in the country’s new constitution.

The constitution, passed by the constituent assembly last month, stipulates that one-third of MPs must be women, along with either the president or vice-president.