Nepal — Introduction

Background

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the principality of Gorkha successfully unified numerous other principalities and states within the sub-Himalayan region, establishing a Nepali Kingdom. Following the Anglo-Nepalese War from 1814 to 1816, Nepal maintained its sovereignty, and the resulting peace agreement established the groundwork for two centuries of friendly relations between Britain and Nepal. In 1951, the Nepali monarch abolished the long-standing hereditary rule and introduced a cabinet system that incorporated political parties into the government. This arrangement continued until 1960, when political parties were once again prohibited, but was restored in 1990 with the creation of a multiparty democracy under a constitutional monarchy.

A Maoist-led rebellion commenced in 1996. Throughout the subsequent decade-long civil conflict involving Maoist and government troops, the monarchy disbanded both the cabinet and the parliament. In 2001, Crown Prince DIPENDRA carried out a massacre of the royal family before turning the gun on himself. His uncle GYANENDRA ascended to the throne, and the monarchy regained absolute authority the following year. A peace agreement in 2006 resulted in the drafting of an interim constitution in 2007. Following a nationwide Constituent Assembly (CA) election in 2008, the newly established CA proclaimed Nepal a federal democratic republic, abolished the monarchy, and elected the nation’s first president.

When the CA failed to produce a constitution mandated by the Supreme Court, then-Prime Minister Baburam BHATTARAI disbanded the CA. An interim government conducted elections in 2013, where the Nepali Congress (NC) secured the most seats. In 2014, the NC formed a coalition government with the second-placed Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (UML). Nepal's new constitution was implemented in 2015, at which point the CA transitioned into the Parliament, and Khagda Prasad Sharma OLI became the first prime minister under the new constitution (2015-16). He resigned prior to a no-confidence vote, leading Parliament to elect Pushpa Kamal DAHAL, leader of the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), as prime minister.

The alliances led by OLI and DAHAL contested the parliamentary elections in 2017, achieving a sweeping victory, and OLI was inaugurated as prime minister in 2018. In 2021, OLI's attempts to dissolve parliament and call for new elections were ruled unconstitutional, resulting in the appointment of opposition-supported NC leader Sher Bahadur DEUBA as prime minister. The NC won a plurality of seats in the 2022 parliamentary elections, but DAHAL subsequently severed ties with the ruling coalition, joining forces with OLI and the CPN-UML to take on the role of prime minister. DAHAL's initial cabinet lasted approximately two months, after which OLI withdrew his backing due to disagreements over ministerial positions. In early 2023, DAHAL withstood a vote of confidence and formed a coalition with the NC to retain his position as prime minister.