NEPAL’S newly elected President Ram Chandra Poudel took the oath of office in Kathmandu today, becoming the third holder of the office since the Himalayan nation abolished its centuries-old monarchy in 2008.

Mr Poudel was elected last Thursday by members of the federal parliament and provincial assemblies.

Top officials, diplomats and MPs lined up to congratulate the new head of state at the ceremony, during which a military band played national songs and gave him a salute.

Nepal’s president is largely a figurehead, but the election triggered a feud among partners in the fragile coalition government headed by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who took office in December after elections produced a hung parliament.

The prime minister backed Mr Poudel, who is also now the supreme commander of the Nepalese army, angering his main coalition partner the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist), which supported its own candidate Subash Chandra Nembang.

The party has since pulled out of the coalition, threatening Mr Dahal’s position.

The prime minister has now lost the support of three parties that were key to his initial government and must seek a vote of confidence in parliament later this month to continue in power.

Nepal has had eight governments in the past 10 years.