Ram Baran Yadav was elected by a historic vote in the Constituent Assembly, and was sworn in as the nation's first president, ending a 247-year-old monarchy.

However, a president whose term has expired can remain in office on an interim basis until their successor is elected and sworn in.

In some parliamentary republics, the president is vested with executive powers on paper, but is bound by convention to act on the advice of the prime minister and the government.

Under the interim constitution adopted in January 2007, all powers of governance were removed from the king, and the Constituent Assembly elected in 2008 was to decide in its first meeting whether to continue the monarchy or to declare a republic.

During the suspension of the monarchy, Girija Prasad Koirala, then Prime Minister of Nepal, acted as the Head of State.