Bidya Devi Bhandari has been the President of the State (with mainly representative functions) since October 28, 2015. The President of the Republic is the commander in chief of the armed forces, but the de facto command of the army lies with the National Defense Council, chaired by the Prime Minister. On March 13, 2018, Bidya Devi Bhandari was confirmed in office by the members of parliament with a large majority.
The interim constitution of January 15, 2007 included a parliamentary multi-party democracy anchoring the principles of popular sovereignty, a multi-party system, independence of the judiciary, as well as a guarantee of fundamental rights and civil liberties. On March 9, 2007, the interim parliament passed a constitutional amendment on the conversion of Nepal into a federal state. On November 19, 2013, the second Constituent Assembly (CA) was elected to function as parliament.
After years of political controversy and several extensions of the deadline, a new constitution was passed on September 20, 2015. The constitution replaces the transitional constitution that has been in force since the end of the civil war. The democratic constitution gives the country a federal system with seven provinces. It confirms Nepal as a secular republic and regulates the introduction of a parliamentary bicameral system. With the promulgation of the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly dissolved and took over the function of Parliament. The Prime Minister is the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML) Khadga Prasad Oli. He runs the Council of Ministers.
The judiciary is independent and based on international standards of legal thought. The judiciary has three levels: at the top is the Supreme Court, and below that are the appellate courts and the district courts.
The respect for compliance with the rule of law and trust in the existing judicial organs have been eroded. The formal judiciary in Nepal is often hardly accessible, unreliable and too expensive for parties to the conflict. The widespread corruption of the police authorities and the state administration contributes to the fact that the population does not trust the existing judicial organs.
According to pharmacylib, Nepal is subdivided into 5 development regions (Regional Development Areas), 14 administrative zones (Anchal), 75 districts and 58 cities as well as almost 4,000 rural communities (Village Development Committees). The administration is decentralized. There are village, city and district councils. The new constitution of September 20, 2015 provides for the division of the country into 7 provinces as federal states. The provinces were by combining existing districts formed.
New constitution
The two devastating earthquakes in April and May 2015, in which more than 8,000 people were killed and around half a million houses were destroyed, had increased the pressure on politicians to amicably resolve the constitutional question after years of dispute. Government and opposition had on a path towards a new constitution agreed on highly controversial points: It was regulated, as the head of government and head of state to be determined and specified that Nepal in seven states is divided.
Overshadowed by violent protests, Parliament adopted a new constitution on 20.9.2015 adopted. 507 of the 598 MPs voted for the democratic constitution, which now replaces the transitional constitution in force since the end of the civil war in 2006.
However, the hope of stabilizing peace in the country with the new constitution has so far been deceptive. In particular, the Tharu and Madhesi ethnic minorities in southern Nepal feel excluded. They fear that the new shape of the provinces will in future not adequately represent them politically. Other opponents of the draft constitution had called for Nepal to be defined as a Hindu nation in the constitutional text. In the weeks before the vote, 57 people were killed in protests against the new constitution.
Many Nepalese blame the government of Khagda Prasad Oli for the deadly violence during the months of road blockades by the Madhesi. Oli’s government was also criticized for the slow reconstruction work after the earthquake in April and May 2015. First the Maoists (CPN-MC), then the Congress Party, called for the Prime Minister’s resignation.
On August 3, 2016, 363 of the 573 members of the Nepalese parliament voted for the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-MC) Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The expectations of the new Prime Minister were high. The focus is on rebuilding the country after the earthquake in spring 2015. Dahal should also settle the dispute over the territorial reorganization of the country with a compromise.
Pushpa Kamal Dahal had already declared when he took office that he would step down in favor of the coalition partner after the local elections were held. The most recent change represents the implementation of the coalition agreement between the Maoists of Dahal and the Congress Party of Deuba: Prime Minister Dahal resigned on May 24, 2017. Sher Bahardur Deuba became the 25th head of government in 27 years. He conducted the final stage of local and national elections.
