Legislature Parliament of Nepal

Legislature Parliament of Nepal
Type
Type	Unicameralism
Leadership
Speaker	Onsari Gharti Magar, Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) Since 16 October 2015
Structure
Seats	601
Political groups	Nepali Congress: 207 seats   Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist): 181 seats   Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre): 82 seats   Rastriya Janata Party Nepal: 24 seats ==> Rastriya Prajatantra Party - Prajatantrik: 22 seats   Nepal Loktantrik Forum: 18 seats   Federal Socialist Forum, Nepal: 15 seats   Rastriya Prajatantra Party: 15 seats   Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist–Leninist): 5 seats   Nepal Workers Peasants Party: 4 seats   Rastriya Janamorcha: 3 seats   Nepal Communist Party (United): 3 seats   Nepal Pariwar Dal: 2 seats   Others: 10 seats   Independent: 2 seats
Length of term	Four years
Elections
Voting system	Mixed member majoritarian (first past the post for 240 members, proportional representation for 335 members, and 26 members appointed by the Prime Minister)
Last election	Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, 2013
Next election	Nepalese legislative election, 2018
Website
http://www.parliament.gov.np/

Legislature Parliament of Nepal (व्यवस्थापिका संसद) is the unicameral legislature of Nepal.^[1] It was formed as the result of the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections after the failure of the first Constituent Assembly to pass a new constitution.^[2]

Opening

Former Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa, the oldest member of the house, assumed chairmanship of the CA on January 20, 2014^[3] and administered the oath of office to 565 lawmakers at the first meeting of the assembly on January 21, 2014.^[4] Leaders of the NC, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) pledged to draft a new constitution within a year.^[5] More than 80% of the members are new faces.^[6]

Power-sharing discussions

On January 26, 2014, President Ram Baran Yadav called for the election of a Prime Minister and the formation of a consensus government within a week^[7] as per article 38(1) of the constitution which provides for the formation of a government through political understanding.^[8] The Nepali Congress obtained the support of the CPN-UML for a NC-led consensus government^[9] and the two parties also agreed to hold local body elections within six months and adopt a new constitution within a year.^[10] An all-party meeting followed at which the CPN-UML, UCPN (Maoist) and MPRF-Loktantrik expressed support for a government under Sushil Koirala. The RRP-N boycotted the meeting.^[11] Further discussions were held between the NC, CPN-UML and UCPN (Maoist) at which the Maoists expressed support for the idea of a NC-led government but did not agree to join the government and decided to stay in opposition.^[12] On February 2, 2014, the NC abandoned its pursuit of a consensus government under article 38(1) of the constitution after the UCPN (Maoist) and RPP-N, the third and fourth largest parties, decided not to join the government. The party has initiated talks with the CPN-UML to form a majority government under article 38(2) of the constitution.^[13][14]

Composition

A total of thirty political parties and two independents were represented at the start of the second constituent assembly. However, some parties have merged and the number of parties has declined.^[15][16]

References