House of Representatives (Nepal)

Pratinidhi Sabha प्रतिनिधि सभा
2nd Federal Parliament
Type
Type	Lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal
Term limits	5 years
History
Preceded by	2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly
Leadership
Speaker	Dev Raj Ghimire, CPN (UML) since 19 January 2023
Deputy Speaker	Indira Ranamagar, RSP since 21 January 2023
Leader of the House Prime Minister of Nepal	KP Sharma Oli, CPN (UML) since 15 July 2024
Leader of the Opposition	Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Maoist Centre since 15 July 2024
Structure
Seats	275
Political groups	Government (182)   NC (88)   CPN (UML) (79)   PSP (7)   LSP-N (4)   NUP (4) External support (13)   Janamat (6)   PSP-N (5)   IND (2) Opposition (80)   CPN (MC) (32)   RSP (21)   RPP (14)   CPN (US) (10)   AJP (1)   NWPP (1)   RJM (1)
Elections
Voting system	Parallel voting: 165 seats – FPTP 110 seats – PR
Last election	20 November 2022
Meeting place
International Convention Centre, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal
Website
hr.parliament.gov.np/np

The House of Representatives, commonly known as Pratinidhi Sabha (Nepali: प्रतिनिधि सभा, romanized: Pratinidhi Sabhā), is one of the houses of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, with the other house being the National Assembly.^[1] 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 at 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.^[2] 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 by the general elections held on 20 November 2022, and its first session convened on 9 January 2023.^[3][4][5]

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).^[6]

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.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9]

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.^[10] 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.^[11] 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) (known by the name Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), since 2009).^[12]

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.^[13] The House of Representatives became the lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal and its first election was held in 2017.^[14]

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).^[15]

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:^[16]

• Written resignation to the Speaker,
• Unable to comply to Article 91,
• Expired term of office / house,
• Unclarified / uninformed absence for ten consecutive house sessions,
• Resignation / removal from the party to which the candidate was associated during election,
• Death.

Current membership

See also: 2nd Federal Parliament of Nepal § Members of the House of Representatives

Party		Parliamentary Party leader	Seats
	Nepali Congress	Sher Bahadur Deuba	88
	CPN (UML)	K.P. Sharma Oli	79
	CPN (Maoist Centre)	Pushpa Kamal Dahal	32
	Rastriya Swatantra Party	Rabi Lamichhane	21
	Rastriya Prajatantra Party	Rajendra Lingden	14
	CPN (Unified Socialist)	Madhav Kumar Nepal	10
	People's Socialist Party	Ashok Rai	7
	Janamat Party	Chandra Kant Raut	6
	People's Socialist Party, Nepal	Upendra Yadav	5
	Loktantrik Samajwadi Party, Nepal	Mahantha Thakur	4
	Nagrik Unmukti Party	Ranjeeta Shrestha	4
	Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party	Prem Suwal	1
	Rastriya Janamorcha	Chitra Bahadur KC	1
	Aam Janata Party	Prabhu Sah	1
	Independent		2
Total			275

Composition by province

Province	Constituencies
Koshi	28
Madhesh	32
Bagmati	33
Gandaki	18
Lumbini	26
Karnali	12
Sudurpashchim	16

Officers of the House of Representatives

Speakers of the House of Representatives

^[17]

Name		Party	Assumed office	Left office	Term
	Krishna Prasad Bhattarai[18]	Nepali Congress	3 July 1959	15 December 1960	1st House of Representatives
	Daman Nath Dhungana[19][20]		23 June 1991	1 October 1994	2nd House of Representatives
	Ram Chandra Poudel[20]		18 December 1994	23 March 1999	3rd House of Representatives
	Taranath Ranabhat[21][22]		23 June 1999	28 April 2006	4th House of Representatives
	Subas Chandra Nembang	CPN (UML)	13 May 2006	15 January 2007	Interim Legislature
	Krishna Bahadur Mahara[23][24]	CPN (Maoist Centre)	10 February 2018	1 October 2019	5th House of Representatives
	Agni Prasad Sapkota[25]		26 January 2020	18 September 2022
	Dev Raj Ghimire[26][27]	CPN (UML)	19 January 2023	Incumbent	6th House of Representatives

Deputy speakers of the House of Representatives

^[17]

Name		Party	Assumed office	Left office	Term
	Mahendra Narayan Nidhi	Nepali Congress	31 March 1960	15 December 1960	1st House of Representatives
	Mahantha Thakur		23 June 1991	17 December 1994	2nd House of Representatives
	Ram Vilas Yadav	Rastriya Prajatantra Party	18 December 1994	13 October 1997	3rd House of Representatives
	Lila Shrestha Subba	CPN (UML)	6 May 1998	10 October 1998
	Bhojraj Joshi		14 October 1998	23 March 1999
	Chitra Lekha Yadav	Nepali Congress	29 June 1999	17 January 2007	4th House of Representatives
					Interim Legislature
	Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe	CPN (UML)	18 March 2018	20 January 2020	5th House of Representatives
	Pushpa Bhusal	Nepali Congress	15 July 2022	18 September 2022
	Indira Ranamagar	Rastriya Swatantra Party	21 January 2023	Incumbent	6th House of Representatives

Terms of the House of Representatives

Elected in	Term	Seats	Start	End	Elected prime minister (during term)		Party	Head of State
Parliament of the Kingdom of Nepal								Monarch
1959	1st House of Representatives	109	May 1959	December 1960		Bisheshwar Prasad Koirala	Nepali Congress	Mahendra of Nepal
1991	2nd House of Representatives	205	May 1991	August 1994[28]		Girija Prasad Koirala		Birendra of Nepal
1994	3rd House of Representatives		November 1994	May 1999[29]		Manmohan Adhikari	CPN (UML)
						Sher Bahadur Deuba	Nepali Congress
						Lokendra Bahadur Chand	Rastriya Prajatantra Party
						Surya Bahadur Thapa
						Girija Prasad Koirala	Nepali Congress
1999	4th House of Representatives		May 1999	May 2002[30]		Krishna Prasad Bhattarai
						Girija Prasad Koirala
								Gyanendra of Nepal
						Sher Bahadur Deuba
	Interim Legislature	329	April 2006	April 2008		Girija Prasad Koirala
Federal Parliament of Nepal								President
2017	5th House of Representatives	275	4 March 2018	18 September 2022[31]		KP Sharma Oli	CPN (UML)	Bidya Devi Bhandari
						Sher Bahadur Deuba	Nepali Congress
2022	6th House of Representatives		9 January 2023	Incumbent		Pushpa Kamal Dahal	CPN (Maoist Centre)	Ram Chandra Poudel
						KP Sharma Oli	CPN (UML)

See also

• Rashtriya Sabha
• Rastriya Panchayat
• Elections in Nepal
• Parliament of Nepal

Notes

References

1. "Nepal government in minority after Prachanda's party withdraws support". indiatvnews.com. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 16 December 2017. 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.
2. Article 86 (2) Constitution of Nepal
3. "Around 61 percent cast votes in largely peaceful polls". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
4. Kamat, Ram Kumar (28 December 2022). "Prez summons new Parliament session on January 9". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
5. Republica. "First HoR meeting after elections being held today". My Republica. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
6. "The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1959" (PDF). www.constitutionnet.org/vl/item/constitution-kingdom-nepal-1959. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
7. "Nepal-Salient Features of the New Constitution" (PDF). www.icwa.in. Retrieved 29 March 2018.
8. "NEPAL: parliamentary elections Pratinidhi Sabha, 1991". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
9. "parliament". nepaldemocracy.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
10. "Nepal king dissolves parliament". telegraph.co.uk. 21 May 2002. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
11. "Nepal's king restores parliament". theguardian.com. 24 April 2006. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
12. "Legislative Branch Reform: Comprehensive Peace Agreement". peaceaccords.nd.edu. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
13. "News | International IDEA". www.idea.int. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
14. Khalid, Alia Chughtai,Saif. "Nepal elections explained". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
15. "Constitution of Nepal 2006, as amended to 2015". constitutions.unwomen.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
16. "Constitution of Nepal". Constitute.
17. "पूर्व पदाधिकारीहरू". hr.parliament.gov.np. Retrieved 27 November 2022.
18. "Remembering KP Bhattarai". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
19. "Dhungana makes a comeback to politics after 23 years". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
20. Subedi, Ishwari. "Bill for privileges to ex-VVIPs getting fast-tracked". My Republica. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
21. Subedi, Ishwari. "Bill for privileges to ex-VVIPs getting fast-tracked". My Republica. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
22. "Nepal king dissolves parliament". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
23. "Krishna Bahadur Mahara elected Nepal parliament's Speaker". The New Indian Express. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
24. Sharma, Bhadra (1 October 2019). "Parliament Speaker in Nepal Resigns After Rape Accusation". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
25. "Sapkota becomes Speaker amid concerns from conflict victims and rights watchdogs". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
26. "प्रतिनिधिसभाको सभामुखमा देवराज घिमिरे निर्वाचित". ekantipur.com (in Nepali). Retrieved 19 January 2023.
27. Setopati, सेतोपाटी संवाददाता. "देवराज घिमिरे सभामुख निर्वाचित". Setopati. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
28. "Kingdom of Nepal: Parliamentary Elections, May 12, 1991". ifes.org. 31 May 1991. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
29. "NEPAL Parliamentary Chamber: Pratinidhi Sabha ELECTIONS HELD IN 1994". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
30. "NEPAL Parliamentary Chamber: Pratinidhi Sabha ELECTIONS HELD IN 1999". archive.ipu.org. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
31. "Despite being dissolved twice, HoR completes its 5-year term". My Republica. Retrieved 28 November 2022.