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Nepal
Index
The constitution provides for a bicameral legislature,
the
Parliament. This body consists of the king and two houses,
the
House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha) and the
National
Council (Rashtriya Sabha). The House of Representatives
has 205
directly elected members. The term for the House of
Representatives
is five years unless it dissolves earlier, pursuant to the
provisions of the constitution. On the recommendation of
the prime
minister, the king may dissolve the house, but new
elections must
be held within six months. Administrative districts are
the
election districts; and each district's allocation of
seats is
proportional to its population. All persons eighteen years
or older
are enfranchised.
The National Council has sixty members consisting of
ten
nominees of the king; thirty-five members, including at
least three
women, to be elected by the House of Representatives by
means of a
single transferable vote, pursuant to the system of
proportional
representation; and fifteen members to be elected by the
electoral
college comprising the voters, including the chair and
deputy chair
of the village and town and district committees of various
development regions. The National Council is a permanent
body; onethird of its members must retire every two years. Council
members
serve six-year terms.
With the exception of finance bills, introduced only in
the
House of Representatives, bills may be introduced in
either house.
All bills, however, must be passed by both houses before
receiving
royal assent. When a bill is rejected by the National
Council, the
House of Representatives has the overriding authority. If
the joint
session of Parliament receives and passes a bill that the
king
returned for reconsideration, it receives royal assent
within
thirty days. The king may, when both the Houses of
Parliament are
not in session, promulgate ordinances, which are not
effective
unless approved by both the houses when reconvened.
Financial
procedures are outlined in part ten of the constitution,
which
states that taxes cannot be levied or loans raised except
in
accordance with the law.
Data as of September 1991
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