According to the constitution,
Nepal
is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary
form of government that is multiethnic, multilingual,
Hindu, and retains the king in the role of head of
state. The former "partyless" panchayat
system of government was abolished in April 1990.
Under the constitution, the democratically elected
parliament consists of the House of Representatives
(lower house) and the National
Assembly (upper house). International observers
considered the 1999 parliamentary elections to be
generally free and fair. There have not been any parliamentary
elections since 1999. King Gyanendra assumed the throne
in June 2001, after the late Crown
Prince Dipendra killed King Birendra and nine
members of the royal family, including himself.
A Maoist insurgency, punctuated by a cease-fire in
2001 and another in 2003, has been ongoing since 1996.
A nationwide state of emergency was in effect from
November 2001 to August 2002 after Maoist insurgents
broke a 4-month cease-fire with violent attacks. During
that time, King Gyanendra, under the constitution's
emergency provisions and on the advice of the Cabinet,
suspended several constitutional
rights, including freedom of expression, assembly,
privacy, and property. In October 2002, the King dismissed
Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba after he recommended
the dissolution of parliament but was subsequently
unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency.
A Cabinet was royally appointed to govern the country
until elections could be held at an unspecified future
time.
On June 4, 2003 King Gyanendra appointed Surya Bahadur
Thapa as Prime Minister after Lokendra Bahadur Chand
resigned on May 30, 2003. The government and the Maoists
declared another cease-fire on January 29, 2003 and
held three rounds of talks on April 27, May 9, and
August 17 to 19, 2003. The Maoists unilaterally broke
the cease-fire on August 27, 2003 and resumed attacks
against government, security, and civilian targets.
Prime Minister Thapa resigned in May 2004; on June
2, 2004, King Gyanendra reinstated formerly dismissed
Sher Bahadur Deuba as Prime Minister. In February
2005, the King dismissed Prime Minister Deuba and
dissolved the Cabinet.
Under the constitution,
Nepal's
judiciary is legally separate from the executive and
legislative branches and has increasingly shown the
will to be independent of political influence. The
judiciary has the right of judicial review under the
constitution.
The king appoints the chief justice and all other
judges to the supreme, appellate, and district courts
upon the recommendation of the judicial council. All
lower court decisions, including acquittals, are subject
to appeal. The Supreme Court is the court of last
appeal. The king may grant pardons and may suspend,
commute, or remit any sentence by any court.
