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Nepal
Nepal has seen rapid
political changes during the last two decades. Until 1990,
Nepal was a monarchy running under the executive control
of the king. Faced with a Communist 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 has also
been noted for its recent speed of development, such as
being one of the few countries in Asia to abolish the
death penalty and the first country in Asia to rule in
favor of same-sex marriage, which the government has a
seven-person committee studying after a November 2008
ruling by the nation's Supreme Court, which ordered full
rights for LGBT individuals, including the right to marry.
Nepal's legislature was
bicameral, consisting of a House of Representatives called
the Pratinidhi Sabha and a National Council called the
Rastriya Sabha. The House of Representatives consisted of
205 members directly elected by the people. The National
Council had 60 members: ten 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 Nepali 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
tended to be highly unstable, falling either through
internal collapse or parliamentary dissolution by the
monarch, on the recommendation of the prime minister,
according to the constitution; no government has survived
for more than two years since 1991.
The movement in April 2006
brought about a change in the nation's governance: an
interim constitution was promulgated, with the King giving
up power, and an interim House of Representatives was
formed with Maoist members after the new government held
peace talks with the Maoist rebels. The number of
parliamentary seats was also increased to 330. In April
2007, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) joined the
interim government of Nepal.
On April 10, 2008, the
first election in Nepal for the constitution assembly took
place. The Maoist party led the poll results but failed to
gain a simple majority in the parliament.
On December 10, 2007, the
interim parliament passed a bill that would make Nepal a
federal republic, with the Prime Minister becoming head of
state. On May 28, 2008, lawmakers in Nepal legally
abolished the monarchy and declared the country a
republic, ending 239 years of royal rule in the Himalayan
nation. The newly elected assembly, led by the former
communist rebels, adopted the resolution at its first
meeting by an overwhelming majority. King Gyanendra was
given 15 days to leave the former Royal Palace in central
Kathmandu by the Nepalese Constituent Assembly. He left
the former Royal Palace on June 11.
On June 26, 2008, Prime
Minister Girija Prasad Koirala tendered his resignation to
the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, which is also
functioning as the Nepalese Parliament; however, a new
Prime Minister has yet to be elected by the Nepalese
Constituent Assembly.
On July 19, 2008, the first
round of voting for the election of the country's
president and vice president took place in the Constituent
Assembly. Parmanand Jha became the first vice president of
Nepal. However, the two presidential frontrunners, Dr. Ram
Baran Yadav of Nepali Congress and the Maoist-backed
candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh, both failed to gain the
minimum 298 votes needed to be elected, with Yadav
receiving 283 votes and Singh receiving 270. 578 out of
594 CA members registered in the voter list had cast their
votes, of which 24 were invalid.
On July 21, 2008, the
second round of voting was held. Yadav received 308 of the
590 votes cast, securing his election as president.
On August 15, 2008, Maoist
leader Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) was elected Prime
Minister of Nepal, the first since the country's
transition from a monarchy to a republic. On May 4, 2009,
Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned over on-going conflicts
over sacking of the Army chief.
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