Nepal Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Kingdom of Nepal

Type: nominally a constitutional monarchy; King Birendra exercises autocratic control over multitiered panchayat system of government

Capital: Kathmandu

Political subdivisions: 75 districts, 14 zones

Legal system: based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; legal education at Nepal Law College in Kathmandu; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

National holiday: Birthday of the King and National Day, 28 December

Branches: Council of Ministers appointed by the King; Rastriya Panchayat (National Assembly; 112 directly elected, 28 appointed by King)

Government leaders: BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev, King (since 1973);

Nagendra Prasad R1J AL, Prime Minister (since July 1984)

Suffrage: universal over age 21

Elections: village, town, and district councils (panchayats) elected by universal suffrage; a constitutional amendment in 1980 provided for direct elections to the National Panchayat, which consists of 140 members (including 28 appointed by the King), who serve five-year terms; Nepal’s first general election in 22 years was held in May 1981; general elections are scheduled for 12 May 1986

Political parties and leaders: all political parties outlawed but operate more or less openly; Nepali Congress Party (NCP), Ganesh Man Singh, K. P. Bhattarai, G. P. Koirala

Communists: Communist Party of Nepal (CPN); factions include V. B. Manandhar,

Man Mohan Adhikari, Bharat Raj Joshi, Rai Majhi, Tulsi Lal, Krishna Raj Burma, Sahana Pradhan

Other political or pressure groups: numerous small, left-leaning student groups in the capital; Indian merchants in Terai and capital

Member of: ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IPG, 1LO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, NAM, SA ARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

NOTE: The information regarding Nepal on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Nepal 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Nepal 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.