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Until 1990, Nepal was an absolute monarchy running under the executive control of the king. Faced with a people's movement against the absolute monarchy, King Birendra, in 1990, agreed to large-scale political reforms by creating a parliamentary monarchy with the king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of the government. Nepal's legislature was bicameral consisting of a House of Representatives and a National Council. The House of Representatives consist of 205 members directly elected by the people. The National Council had 60 members, 10 nominated by the king, 35 elected by the House of Representatives and the remaining 15 elected by an electoral college made up of chairs of villages and towns. The legislature had a five-year term, but was dissolvable by the king before its term could end. All Nepalese citizens 18 years and older became eligible to vote. The executive comprised the King and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet). The leader of the coalition or party securing the maximum seats in an election was appointed as the Prime Minister. The Cabinet was appointed by the king on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Governments in Nepal have tended to be highly unstable; no government has survived for more than two years since 1991, either through internal collapse or parliamentary dissolution by the monarch. The judiciary is made of the Sarbochha Adalat—the Supreme Court, appellate courts and various district courts. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court was appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the other judges were appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council. The Nepalese political landscape consists of more than two dozen political parties. Based on the parliamentary seats occupied by various parties since 1991, Nepali Congress Party (NCP), Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) (CPN-UML), National Democratic Party (NDP), Nepal Sadbhawana Party (NGP), People’s Front Nepal (PFN) and Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP) are significant ones. United People's Front of Nepal (UPFN), which had won third largest number of seats in 1991 parliamentary election, began to splinter in 1993. Its one faction later merged with Nepal Communist Party (Masal) to form PFN. However, the other faction established Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in 1995, which staged an armed rebellion in 1996 and gradually emerged as a major political force - holding a balance of power in Nepal. All these political realignments have made the political scene of Nepal one of the most confusing in the world. Breakup of the parties had become a norm rather than an exception in Nepal. Parties never agreed on most issues of National significance. However, the situation began to change after King Gyanendra took an absolute power in 2005. In November 22, 2005, the seven parliamentary parties of the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) agreed on a historic and unprecedented 12-point memorandum of understanding (MOU) in November 22, 2005 for peace and democracy. Nepalese from various walks of life and the international community regarded the MOU as an appropriate political response to the crisis that was developing in Nepal. In the backdrop of the historical sufferings of the Nepalese people and the enormous human cost of the last ten years of violent conflict, the MOU, which proposes a peaceful transition through an elected constituent assembly, created an acceptable formula for a united movement for democracy. As per the 12-point MOU, the Seven Party Alliance called for a protest movement and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) supported it. This led to a countrywide uprising that started in April 2006. All political forces including civil society and professional organizations actively galvanized the people. This resulted into massive and spontaneous demonstrations and rallies held across Nepal against the King Gyanendra's autocratic rule. The people's participation was so broad, momentous and pervasive that the king feared of being overrun. On April 21, 2006, King Gyanendra declared that the "power would be returned to the people". This had little effect on the people, who continued to occupy the streets of Kathmandu and other towns, openly defying the daytime curfew. Finally King Gyanendra announced the reinstatement the House of Representatives, so conceding one of the major demands of the SPA, at midnight of April 24, 2006. With this the coalition of political forces decided to call off the protests. Twenty-one people died and thousands were injured during the 19 days of protests. On May 19, 2006, the parliament assumed total legislative power and gave executive power to the Government of Nepal (previously known as His Majesty's Government). Names of many institutions (including the army) were stripped of the "royal" adjective and the Raj Parishad (a council of the King's advisors) was abolished, with his duties assigned to the Parliament itself. The activities of the King became subject to parliamentary scrutiny and the King's properties were subjected to taxation. Moreover, Nepal was declared a secular state abrogating the previous status of a Hindu Kingdom, albeit the fear shown by midline Hindu communities over their concern over the abolishment of long founded tradition of Vedic systems. On July 19, 2006, the prime minister, G. P. Koirala, sent a letter to the United Nations announcing the intentions of the Nepalese Government to hold elections to a constituent assembly by April 2007. |
Nepal Information: Inside
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