Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: King BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev (succeeded to the
throne 31 January 1972 following the death of his father King
MAHENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev, crowned king 24 February 1975) is a
constitutional monarch; Heir Apparent Crown Prince DIPENDRA Bir
Bikram
head of government: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur DEUBA (since 12
September 1995); note - in 1994, the king appointed Man Mohan
ADHIKARI to be prime minister using the standard criterion - he was
the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives
following the last election; however, in September 1995, a
parliamentary coalition of the Nepali Congress Party, the Rastriya
Prajantra Party, the Nepal Sadbhavana Party, and independents voted
against Prime Minister ADHIKARI; Sher Bahadur DEUBA, the leader of
the Nepali Congress Party, then formed the new government and was
appointed the new prime minister by the king
cabinet: Cabinet was appointed by the king on recommendation of the
prime minister
Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament
National Council: consists of 60 members (50 appointed by House of
Representatives and 10 by the king)
House of Representatives: elections last held 15 November 1994 (next
to be held NA); results - NCP 33%, CPN/UML 31%, NDP 18%, Terai
Rights Sadbhavana Party 3%, NWPP 1%; seats - (205 total) CPN/UML 88,
NCP 83, NDP 20, NWPP 4, Terai Rights Sadbhavana Party 3,
independents 7
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Sarbochha Adalat), chief justice
is appointed by the king on recommendation of the Constitutional
Council, the other judges are appointed by the king on the
recommendation of the Judicial Council
Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Nepal/United
Marxist and Leninist (CPN/UML), Man Mohan ADHIKARI, president;
Nepali Congress Party (NCP), Krishna Prasad BHATTARAI (president),
Girija Prasad KOIRALA, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur DEUBA; National
Democratic Party (NDP), leader NA; Terai Rights Sadbhavana
(Goodwill) Party, Gajendra Narayan SINGH; Nepal Workers and Peasants
Party (NWPP), leader NA; Nepal Sadbhavana Party, leader NA; Rastriya
Prajantra Party, leader NA
Other political or pressure groups: numerous small, left-leaning
student groups in the capital; several small, radical Nepalese
antimonarchist groups
International organization participation: AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP,
FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, NAM, SAARC, UN,
UNCRO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIH, UNPROFOR, UPU, WFTU,
WHO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (applicant)
Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Basudev Prasad DHUNGANA
chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 667-4550
consulate(s) general: New York
US diplomatic representation: chief of mission: Ambassador Sandra L. VOGELGESANG embassy: Pani Pokhari, Kathmandu mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [977] (1) 411179 FAX: [977] (1) 419963
Flag: red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun