Politics of Nepal

Politics of Nepal

नेपाली राजनीति
Polity typeFederal Parliamentary Republic
ConstitutionConstitution of Nepal
Legislative branch
NameParliament
TypeBicameral
Meeting placeSansad Bhavan
Upper house
NameRastriya Sabha
Presiding officerGanesh Prasad Timilsina, Chairman
AppointerElectoral College
Lower house
NamePratinidhi Sabha
Presiding officerDev Raj Ghimire, Speaker of the Pratinidhi Sabha
Executive branch
Head of state
TitlePresident
CurrentlyRam Chandra Poudel
AppointerElectoral College
Head of government
TitlePrime Minister
CurrentlyKP Sharma Oli
AppointerPresident
Cabinet
NameCouncil of Ministers of Nepal
Current cabinetOli Cabinet 2024
LeaderPrime Minister
Deputy leaderDeputy Prime Minister
AppointerPresident
HeadquartersSingha Durbar, Kathmandu
MinistriesOli Cabinet 2024
Judicial branch
NameJudiciary
Supreme Court
SeatRam Shah Path, Kathmandu
High Courts of Nepal
Seat7 Province of Nepal
District Courts of Nepal
Seat77 Districts of Nepal

The politics of Nepal functions within the framework of a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system.[1] Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and their cabinet, while legislative power is vested in the Parliament.

The Governing Nepali Congress and Communist Party of Nepal (UML) have been the main rivals of each other since the early 1990s, with each party defeating the other in successive elections.[2][3][4] There are seven major political parties in the federal parliament: Nepali Congress (NC),[1] CPN (UML), CPN (Maoist-centre), CPN (Unified Socialist), People's Socialist Party, Nepal, Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal and People's Progressive Party.[1] While all major parties officially espouse democratic socialism, UML, Unified Socialist and Maoist-centre are considered leftist while the Nepali Congress, Democratic Socialist Party and People's Progressive Party are considered centrist, with most considering them center-left and some center-right.[5] The party PSP-N is center-left to left-wing.[6] During most of the brief periods of democratic exercise in the 1950s and 1990s, Nepali Congress held a majority in parliament.[7] After a ten-year civil war, the Nepalese parliament voted to abolish the monarchy in June 2006, and Nepal became a federal republic on 28 May 2008. A new constitution was adopted in 2015, and in 2017 Nepal held its first general election since the end of the civil war, in which the Nepal Communist Party (a short-lived merger of the UML and Maoist-centre) won a majority at the federal level as well as in six of the seven provinces.[8][9]

The Economist Intelligence Unit rated Nepal a "hybrid regime" in 2022,[10][needs update] while the 2018 Polity data series considers it to be a democracy.[11] According to the 2023 V-Dem Democracy indices Nepal was the 7th most electoral democratic country in Asia.[12]

  1. ^ a b c "Nepal elections explained", Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 14 August 2019, retrieved 17 August 2019
  2. ^ "CPN-UML, NC in close fight in Nepal elections". The Economic Times. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  3. ^ Sureis (18 May 2017). "UML, Congress pitted in tough electoral battle". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  4. ^ Sureis (6 July 2017). "NC, UML in stiff fight in Province 7". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Is Nepal headed towards a communist state?", Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 26 July 2019, retrieved 17 August 2019
  6. ^ "Political polarisation in Nepal ahead of major elections", Zee News, 5 October 2017, archived from the original on 17 August 2019, retrieved 17 August 2019
  7. ^ Khadka, Narayan (1993), "Democracy and Development in Nepal: Prospects and Challenges", Pacific Affairs, 66 (1): 44–71, doi:10.2307/2760015, ISSN 0030-851X, JSTOR 2760015
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ "NCP to announce party department chiefs today", The Himalayan Times, 21 July 2019, archived from the original on 18 August 2019, retrieved 18 August 2019
  10. ^ Democracy Index 2023: Age of Conflict (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit (Report). 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  11. ^ "Polity IV Annual Time-Series, 1800-2018". Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  12. ^ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.