The first president of newly republican Nepal was sworn into office on Wednesday, but the country remained in political limbo, with the former Maoist rebels refusing to form a government under him. Ram Baran Yadav took his oath in Nepal's new constitutional assembly, which had voted on May 28 to sack unpopular king Gyanendra and abolish the Himalayan country's 240-year-old monarchy. "I, in the name of God take the oath of office that I will remain committed to the nation and its people to fulfil the duty with my utmost honesty and protect the sovereignty and freedom of the nation," the new president said. The presidency is a largely ceremonial position but the Maoists -- who ended a decade of civil war to enter mainstream politics -- are refusing to form a government.