Ram Chandra Paudel (; born 6 October 1944) is a Nepalese politician who has been the third and current

president of Nepal The president of Nepal (ISO: ) is the head of state of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. The president is the nominal head of the executive,the first citizen of the country, and the supreme commander of the Nepalese Armed Forces. Ra ...

since 2023. A former senior leader of the

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...

, Paudel previously served as the speaker of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from 1994 to 1999, and was the

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

and

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 1999 to 2002. First elected to

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, he served in numerous other ministerial positions and was the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

from 2011 to 2013, as the parliamentary party leader of the

Early life

Ram Chandra Paudel was born on 6 October 1944 in a Brahmin farming family in the remote village of Satiswara, located in the present-day Vyas municipality of

Tanahun district Tanahun District ( , or ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district lies in central Nepal, with Damauli as its district headquarters. It covers an area of and has a population (2011) of 323,288. ...

. He completed his secondary education ( SLC) from Nandi Ratri Secondary School in Kathmandu and studied

Sanskrit literature Sanskrit literature is a broad term for all literature composed in Sanskrit. This includes texts composed in the earliest attested descendant of the Proto-Indo-Aryan language known as Vedic Sanskrit, texts in Classical Sanskrit as well as some ...

at the Sanskrit University from 1963 to 1967. He also completed a MA in

Nepali literature Nepali literature () refers to literature written in the Nepali language. The Nepali language has been the national language of Nepal since 1958.Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature' (Voices from Asia), edited and tran ...

from the

Tribhuvan University Tribhuvan University (TU; ) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu Valley, Kathmandu, Nepal. Established in 1959, TU is the oldest and the largest university in Nepal. It offers 1,000 undergraduate and 500 postgraduate programs a ...

in 1970, appearing in his examinations while being detained in prison for anti-Panchayat activities.

Political career

Early years and student politics (1960s and 1970s)

Paudel got into politics aged just 16 when he joined the protests and movement against the dismissal of the B.P. Koirala-led government and imposition of Panchayat rule by

King Mahendra Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (; 11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until his death in 1972. He led the 1960 Nepal coup d'état, 1960 coup d'état, in which he dismissed the government, jailed other political ...

in December 1960, and participated in numerous Congress-led armed struggles for the restoration of democracy in the 1960s. A key campaigner for the students’ movement in Nepal, he was elected president of the student union at the Saraswati Campus in 1967 and elected general secretary of the Democratic Socialist Youth League in 1968. Paudel took initiatives in organizing the

Nepal Student Union Nepal Students' Union ( NSU) is the largest student political wings in Nepal. The Nepal Student's Union represents the Nepali Congress. During the autocratic King's rule (''Panchayati Byawastha''), the union played a major role in unifying stud ...

, the Congress party’s student wing established in 1970, and was the union's founding central committee member.

Party politics (1970s – 2023)

Paudel entered into mainstream party politics in 1977, when he was elected member of the Nepali Congress Tanahun district committee. He was elected vice-president of the district committee in 1979, and president in 1980. Paudel was appointed coordinator of the Nepali Congress's Central Publicity Committee in 1983, and was appointed member of the party's central committee and chief of the party's central level publicity bureau in 1987. Paudel was first elected to parliament from Tanahun 1 in the 1991 general election, and served as the Minister for Local Development and Agriculture from May 1991 to 1994. In the 1994 general election, he switched seats and was elected from Tanahun 2, a seat he then held consecutively until 2017. Paudel was elected speaker of the House of Representatives following the election, and served until 1999. Following the 1999 general election, he was appointed deputy prime minister and Minister for Home Affairs, and he served in those positions until 2002. Paudel was elected general secretary of the Nepali Congress following the party's general convention in 2006. He played an important role in the peace process as the coordinator of the Peace Secretariat after the end of the civil war, and served as the Minister for Peace and Reconstruction from 2007 to 2008. Paudel was elected vice-president of the Nepali Congress in 2008, and defeated former prime minister

Sher Bahadur Deuba Sher Bahadur Deuba (, ; born 13 June 1946, Ashigram, Kingdom of Nepal) is a Nepali politician and former prime minister of Nepal. He has also been serving as the president of the Nepali Congress since 2016. Deuba has served five terms as prime ...

to become Congress' parliamentary party leader following the 2008 Constituent Assembly election. Paudel contested the prime ministerial election in parliament in 2010, but was not elected even after 17 rounds of election. He served as the Congress party's acting president after the death of

Sushil Koirala Sushil Prasad Koirala (; 12 August 1931 – 9 February 2016) was a Nepalese politician and the Prime Minister of Nepal from 11 February 2014 to 10 October 2015. He was also President of the Nepali Congress from 2010 to 2016, having earlier ser ...

in 2016, but was defeated by Deuba in the party's 13th general convention later in the year. Having decided to switch back to his old seat of Tanahun 1, Paudel was defeated by Krishna Kumar Shrestha of the CPN (UML) in the 2017 general election. He remained active in party politics, and was elected from Tanahun 1 in the 2022 general election.

Detentions

Paudel spent over 15 years as a prisoner of conscience on various occasions, mostly for being an opponent of the panchayat system. He was detained on the following occasions: * For 10 months in 1962 in connection with the armed seize of Bharatpur by Nepali Congress. * For 12 months in 1964 in connection with student movements in Kathmandu. * For 6 months in 1966 for being involved in a movement to oust the then-Deputy inspector General of Police. * For 14 months in 1967 in connection with organisational activities of DSYL in Pokhara. * For one year in 1969 in connection with the reorganization of DSYL in western Nepal. * For 3 months in 1970 for being involved in the organization and inauguration of Nepal Student Union. * For 4 years from 1971 to 1975 for being involved in revitalizing political activities after the release of B.P. Koirala. * For 10 months in 1977 for being involved in the Patan Conference of the Nepali Congress, where a decision was taken to launch a civil disobedience movement (''Satyagraha'') for the restoration of democracy and release of its ailing leader, B.P. Koirala. * For 6 months in 1979 for taking a leading role in anti-Panchayat movements * For 6 months in 1981 in connection with the boycott of Panchayati elections. * For 9 months in 1985 in connection with the civil disobedience movement (''Satyagraha''). * For 3 months in 1988 on a charge of publishing a Nepali Congress organ and for breaching the ''Publication Act''. * For 5 months in 1989 on a charge of organizing and inspiring people to take part in movement for restoration of democracy. * For about one and half years from 2003 to 2005 during the King's direct rule.

President (2023 – present)

Paudel was the candidate from Nepali Congress and its 10-party alliance for the 2023 presidential election, and was elected president on 9 March 2023, defeating former speaker Subas Chandra Nemwang of the

CPN (UML) CPN may refer to: * Calpine Corporation, New York Stock Exchange symbol CPN * ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' * Carpinteria (Amtrak station), California, Amtrak station code CPN * Caspian Airlines (Iran), ICAO airline designator ''CPN'' * Celiac ...

. He disassociated himself from all party responsibilities and resigned as an active member of the Nepali Congress after being elected president. Paudel resigned as member of Parliament before assuming office as president on 13 March 2023.

Personal life

Paudel is married to Savita Paudel and the couple have five children: four daughters and one son.

Publications

Paudel is an active writer and his political and theoretical affairs are frequently published in national vernaculars, including: * ''What Nepali Congress Says'' (1976) * ''Satyagraha – Why and How'' (1984) * ''Democratic Socialism – A study'' (1990) * ''Journey of Faith'' (1996) * ''Abhisapta Itihas'' (2004) * ''Socialism – In New Context'' (2012) * ''Agricultural Revolution and Socialism'' (2013) Paudel received the ''Mahendra Bikram Shah Prize'' for an article titled "Human Rights Condition in Nepal" in 1987.

Honors

* :

Grand Cordon of the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese honors system, Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge feat ...

(2020) ''for contributions in enhancing Nepal-Japan ties ''

References

External links

Facebook page
* of the

President of Nepal The president of Nepal (ISO: ) is the head of state of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. The president is the nominal head of the executive,the first citizen of the country, and the supreme commander of the Nepalese Armed Forces. Ra ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poudel, Ram Chandra 1944 births Living people People from Tanahun District Nepali Congress politicians from Gandaki Province Speakers of the House of Representatives (Nepal) Government ministers of Nepal Interior ministers of Nepal Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Nepal MPs 1991–1994 Nepal MPs 1994–1999 Nepal MPs 1999–2002 Members of the 1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly Members of the 2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly Nepal MPs 2022–present Candidates for President of Nepal Presidents of Nepal Leaders of the opposition (Nepal)