Physician chosen as Nepal's first president

The Constituent Assembly elected Ram Baran Yadav, a physician from the Madheshi ethnic community in southern Nepal, which has been campaigning for greater rights and more say in the administration, assembly Chairman Kul Bahadur Gurung announced.

Yadav's victory was a blow for the Maoists, who won the most seats in the assembly in April elections and hope to form the country's new government with one of their members as prime minister. But they first need to form a coalition government since they failed to win a simple majority in the assembly.

The assembly was elected in April following the dissolution of the monarchy and is supposed to rewrite the constitution and govern the nation.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial post but the decision by the country's three top opposition parties to back a non-Maoist candidate for the job threatened to undermine coalition negotiations.

"We have been forced to change our plans to form the new government. We have to rethink our plans because of the new developments, which have ended the basis for further agreements with the other parties," said Chandra Prakash Gajurel, a senior leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).

Gajurel said a formal decision will be made during the party's central committee meeting on Tuesday.

Yadav, of the Nepali Congress party, won 308 votes, giving him the required majority of votes cast by the 594-seat assembly.

Maoist candidate Ramraja Singh received 282. Six members were not present.

Yadav was backed by his party, the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) and the Madhesi People's Rights Forum--the second, third and fourth largest parties.