Politics of Nepal

political science

नेपाली राजनीति
political science ; नेपाली राजनीति
	National Emblem of Nepal
Polity type	Federal Parliamentary Republic
Constitution	Constitution of Nepal
Legislative branch
Name	Parliament
Type	Bicameral
Meeting place	Sansad Bhavan
	Upper house
Name	Rastriya Sabha
Presiding officer	Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, Chairman
Appointer	Electoral College
	Lower house
Name	Pratinidhi Sabha
Presiding officer	Dev Raj Ghimire, Speaker of the Pratinidhi Sabha
Executive branch
	Head of State
Title	President
Currently	Ram Chandra Poudel
Appointer	Electoral College
	Head of Government
Title	Prime Minister
Currently	Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Appointer	President
	Cabinet
Name	Council of Ministers of Nepal
Current cabinet	Dahal cabinet, 2022
Leader	Prime Minister
Deputy leader	Deputy Prime Minister
Appointer	President
Headquarters	Singha Durbar, Kathmandu
Ministries	25
Judicial branch
Name	Judiciary
	Supreme Court
Seat	Ram Shah Path, Kathmandu
	High Courts of Nepal
Seat	7 Province of Nepal
	District Courts of Nepal
Seat	77 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] while the 2018 Polity data series considers it to be a democracy.^[11] According to the V-Dem Democracy indices Nepal was 2023 the 7th most electoral democratic country in Asia.^[12]

^ ^a ^b ^c "Nepal elections explained", Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 14 August 2019, retrieved 17 August 2019
^ "CPN-UML, NC in close fight in Nepal elections". The Economic Times. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ Sureis (18 May 2017). "UML, Congress pitted in tough electoral battle". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ Sureis (6 July 2017). "NC, UML in stiff fight in Province 7". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
^ "Is Nepal headed towards a communist state?", Al Jazeera, archived from the original on 26 July 2019, retrieved 17 August 2019
^ "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
^ 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
^ Cite error: The named reference :5 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ "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
^ "Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
^ "Polity IV Annual Time-Series, 1800-2018". Retrieved 3 December 2022.
^ V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.

[:3-1] "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

[:4-7] 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

[:5-8] 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

[democracy-index-10] "Democracy Index 2022: Frontline democracy and the battle for Ukraine" (PDF). Economist Intelligence Unit. 2023. Retrieved 9 February 2023.

[11] "Polity IV Annual Time-Series, 1800-2018". Retrieved 3 December 2022.

[vdem_dataset-12] V-Dem Institute (2023). "The V-Dem Dataset". Retrieved 14 October 2023.

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