House of Representatives (Nepal)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Pratinidhi Sabha

प्रतिनिधि सभा
Coat of arms or logo
Emblem of Nepal
Type
Type
Term limits
5 years
History
Preceded by2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly
Leadership
Speaker
Deputy Speaker
vacant
since 21 May 2021
Leader of the House
Sher Bahadur Deuba, Nepali Congress
since 13 July 2021
Leader of the Opposition
Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli, CPN (UML)
since 13 July 2021
Structure
Seats275
HouseOfRepresentatives Nepal August2021.svg
Political groups
Government (158)
  •   NC (63)
  •   CPN (MC) (49)
  •   CPN (US) (25)[1]
  •   PSPN (21)

External Support (19)

Opposition (94)

Vacant (4)

  •   Vacant (4)
Elections
Parallel voting:
  • 165 seats – FPTP
  • 110 seats – PR
Last election
26 November and 7 December 2017
Next election
By 4 March 2023
Meeting place
Nepalese Constituent Assembly Building.jpg
International Convention Centre, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal
Website
hr.parliament.gov.np/np

The House of Representatives, or Pratinidhi Sabha (Nepali: प्रतिनिधि सभा; Pratinidhi sabhā) is the one of the houses of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, with the other house being the National Assembly.[6] Members of the House of Representatives are elected through a parallel voting system. They hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the President on the advice of the council of ministers. The house meets in the International Convention Centre in Kathmandu.

The House has 275 members; 165 elected from single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting and 110 elected through proportional electoral system where voters vote for political parties, considering the whole country as a single election constituency.[7] The House of Representatives, unless dissolved, continues to operate for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. However, in a state of emergency, the term of the House of Representatives may be extended, not exceeding one year in accordance with federal law.

The current House of Representatives was elected in 2017 and its first meeting was held on 5 March 2018. On 20 December 2020, it was dissolved by a cabinet decision.[8] However, the Supreme Court reinstated the House on 22 February 2021.[9] On 22 May 2021, it was again dissolved by a cabinet decision followed by approval of President on mid-night with elections set to be held on 12 and 19 November in two phases. The Supreme Court, by the order of certiorari, has reinstated the House for the second time in a landmark decision on 12 July 2021.[10]

History[]

Parliament of Kingdom of Nepal, 1959–1962[]

The 1959 constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, proclaimed on 12 February 1959, first mentions the Pratinidhi Sabha first as follows: "There shall be a Parliament which shall consist of His Majesty and two Houses, to be known respectively as the Senate (Maha Sabha) and the House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha)" (Article No. 18, Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1959).[11]

The 1959 constitution was abrogated on 16 December 1962 when the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1962 was proclaimed and the parliament of the kingdom became unicameral.[12]

Post-Panchayat, 1990–2002[]

The House of Representatives was first provided for by the "Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990", which replaced the former panchayat system of parliament with a bicameral parliament.[13] It consisted of 205 members directly elected from single member constituencies. It had five-year terms, but it could be dissolved by the King on the advice of the Prime Minister before the end of its term.[14]

Dissolution, 2002–2007[]

Front face of Pratinidhi Sabha Building
Pratinidhi Sabha building of Nepal (moderation of ancient Gallery Hall)

In May 2002, the House of Representatives was dissolved by King Gyanendra on advice of the then prime minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, in order to hold new elections.[15] Elections could not take place due to the ongoing civil war, which eventually led King Gyanendra to stage a royal coup. Following the democracy movement of 2006, the King reinstated the earlier legislature.[16] On 15 January 2007, the House of Representatives was transformed into an Interim legislature. This consisted of members appointed under an agreement between the Seven Party Alliance and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).[17]

Federal Parliament of Nepal, 2015–present[]

The Constitution of Nepal was drafted by the 2nd Constituent Assembly and the provision for a bicameral legislature was re-adopted.[18] The House of Representatives became the lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal and its first election was held in 2017.[19]

Members[]

The composition and powers of the house are established by Parts 8 and 9 of the Constitution of Nepal. The qualifications for becoming a member of the House are laid out in Article 87 of the Constitution and House of Representatives Election Act, 2017. Members must be :

  • a citizen of Nepal
  • twenty five years or older on date of nomination
  • without a criminal offense conviction involving moral turpitude
  • not disqualified by any federal law
  • not hold any office of profit (paid by the government).[20]

In addition to this, no member can be a member of both the House of Representatives and the National Assembly.

Vacation of seat[]

The seat of a member of House of Representatives may be considered vacant in the following circumstances:[21]

  • if they resign in writing to the Speaker,
  • if they do not meet the requirements under Article 91,
  • if their term of office expires or if the term of the House of Representatives expires,
  • if they remain absent from ten consecutive meetings without notification to the House,
  • if the party of which they were a member when elected provides notification in the manner set forth by law that they have abandoned the party,
  • if they die.

Current membership[]

See also: 1st Federal Parliament of Nepal § Members

The most recent House of Representatives elections were held in 2017 and the House first sat on 5 March 2018. It consists of 275 members, representing four parliamentary parties. Three other parties along with one Independent are represented as independents in the House of Representatives after they failed to meet the 3% threshold in proportional representation voting.[22] Its current composition was as follows:

Party Parliamentary Party leader Seats
CPN (UML) Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli[23] 96
Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba[24] 63
CPN (Maoist Centre) Puspa Kamal Dahal[25] 49
CPN (Unified Socialist) Madhav Kumar Nepal[26] 25
People's Socialist Party, Nepal Upendra Yadav[27] 21
Loktantrik Samajbadi Party Nepal Mahanta Thakur[28] 13
Independents 4
Vacant 4
Total 275

Composition by province[]

Province Constituencies
Province No. 1 28
Province No. 2 32
Bagmati 33
Gandaki 18
Lumbini 26
Karnali 12
Sudurpashchim 16

List of terms of Parliament[]

Elected in Term Start End Speaker
Parliament of the Kingdom of Nepal
1959 1st House of Representatives May 1959 December 1960 Krishna Prasad Bhattarai[29]
1991 2nd House of Representatives May 1991 August 1994[30] Daman Nath Dhungana[31][32]
1994 3rd House of Representatives November 1994 May 1999[33] Ram Chandra Poudel[32]
1999 4th House of Representatives May 1999 May 2002[34] Taranath Ranabhat[32][35]
Interim Legislature April 2006 April 2008 Subas Chandra Nembang
Federal Parliament of Nepal
2017 5th House of Representatives March 2018 Krishna Bahadur Mahara[36][37] (until 1 October 2019)
Agni Prasad Sapkota[38] (since 26 January 2020)

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "देउवालाई विश्वासको मत दिने यी हुन् एमालेका २२ सांसद". Online Khabar (in Nepali). 18 July 2021.
  2. ^ "महन्थ ठाकुर पक्ष आन्तरिक छलफलमा, सरकारमा सहभागी नहुने". eKantipur (in Nepali). 12 September 2021.
  3. ^ "सरकारमा सहभागिताबारे लोसपामा दुईधार". eKantipur (in Nepali). 12 September 2021.
  4. ^ "DSP's executive committee meeting underway". Khabarhub. 12 September 2021.
  5. ^ "Sher Bahadur Deuba wins vote of confidence in Nepal Parliament". The Indian Express. 19 July 2021.
  6. ^ "Nepal government in minority after Prachanda's party withdraws support". indiatvnews.com. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 16 December 2017. ... Dahal said the party decision has been conveyed to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Oli and Pratinidhi Sabha (Lower House of the Nepali Parliament) Speaker Onsari Gharti. But an official said the politically unstable nation's leader would not immediately resign.
  7. ^ Article 86 (2) Constitution of Nepal
  8. ^ "First meeting of House of Representatives concluded". The Himalayan Times. 2018-03-05. Retrieved 2018-03-15.
  9. ^ House reinstated, Kathmandu Post, 22 February 2021.
  10. ^ Online, T. H. T. (2021-07-12). "Supreme Court reinstates House, issues verdict in favour of Deuba's claim". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  11. ^ "The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1959" (PDF). www.constitutionnet.org/vl/item/constitution-kingdom-nepal-1959. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  12. ^ "Nepal-Salient Features of the New Constitution" (PDF). www.icwa.in. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
  13. ^ "NEPAL: parliamentary elections Pratinidhi Sabha, 1991". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  14. ^ "parliament". nepaldemocracy.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  15. ^ "Nepal king dissolves parliament". telegraph.co.uk. 21 May 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  16. ^ "Nepal's king restores parliament". theguardian.com. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  17. ^ "Legislative Branch Reform: Comprehensive Peace Agreement". peaceaccords.nd.edu. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  18. ^ "News | International IDEA". www.idea.int. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  19. ^ Khalid, Alia Chughtai,Saif. "Nepal elections explained". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  20. ^ "Constitution of Nepal 2006, as amended to 2015". constitutions.unwomen.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  21. ^ "Constitution of Nepal". Constitute.
  22. ^ Republica. "Numerical strength of parties in parliament and likely coalition govts if NCP splits". My Republica. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  23. ^ Adhikari, Priyanka (2018-02-15). "Oli appointed Parliamentary Party leader of CPN-UML". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  24. ^ "Deuba elected NC PP leader". Retrieved 2018-03-26.
  25. ^ "Prachanda elected PP leader". GorakhaPatra. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  26. ^ Republica. "EC recognizes CPN (Unified Socialist) and Democratic Socialist Party". My Republica. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  27. ^ Online, T. H. T. (2021-07-31). "Yadav elected JSP-N parliamentary party leader". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 2021-07-31.
  28. ^ "Thakur group proposes name of the new party as Loktrantrik Samajbadi Party Nepal". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  29. ^ "Remembering KP Bhattarai". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-12-11.
  30. ^ "Kingdom of Nepal: Parliamentary Elections, May 12, 1991". ifes.org. 31 May 1991. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  31. ^ "Dhungana makes a comeback to politics after 23 years". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  32. ^ a b c Subedi, Ishwari. "Bill for privileges to ex-VVIPs getting fast-tracked". My Republica. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  33. ^ "NEPAL Parliamentary Chamber: Pratinidhi Sabha ELECTIONS HELD IN 1994". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  34. ^ "NEPAL Parliamentary Chamber: Pratinidhi Sabha ELECTIONS HELD IN 1999". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  35. ^ "Nepal king dissolves parliament". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
  36. ^ "Krishna Bahadur Mahara elected Nepal parliament's Speaker". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  37. ^ Sharma, Bhadra (2019-10-01). "Parliament Speaker in Nepal Resigns After Rape Accusation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  38. ^ "Sapkota becomes Speaker amid concerns from conflict victims and rights watchdogs". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
Retrieved from ""