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NEPAL
Byabasthapika-Sansad (Legislature - Parliament)
ELECTIONS IN 2013

Compare data for parliamentary chambers in the Last elections module

A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page

Parliament name (generic / translated) Sansad / Parliament
Structure of parliament Unicameral
BACKGROUND
Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 19 November 2013
Purpose of elections The Nepali Congress (NC), led by Mr. Sushil Koirala, came in first winning 196 of the 575 directly elected seats at stake. The Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) of Mr. Jhala Nath Khanal followed it with 175 seats. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) came in a distant third, winning 80 seats. Following the elections, the NC and the CPN-UML started talks on forming a coalition government.

The 2013 polls elected the second Constituent Assembly. The first Constituent Assembly was elected in April 2008 to draft a new Constitution within two years, as part of the transformation of Nepal from a kingdom to a republic. Despite repeated extensions of its term, no agreement was reached in the Constituent Assembly on the new Constitution. The main point of disagreement was the future administrative division of the country, in particular whether Nepal should be divided into states along ethnic lines. On 28 May, Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai (Maoist) called fresh elections for 22 November 2012. However, the electoral law used for the 2008 elections did not foresee a second election to the Constituent Assembly. A long period of negotiations therefore followed before an agreement on the organization of the elections could be reached.

During the election campaigning, the NC and the CPN-UML both proposed a parliamentary form of government, with a President who would be indirectly elected by Parliament. They both proposed a Federal State. The CPN-UML proposed seven provinces based on multiple identities, while the NC proposed two options of either seven or 13 provinces, stating that it was ready for “any alternative within the framework of democratic norms and values”. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) proposed 11 provinces.


Note on the statutory number of the Constituent Assembly:
In March 2013, the major political forces signed an 11-point agreement, which would have elected a reduced 491-member Constituent Assembly. On 17 June 2013, the Government announced the holding of elections to a new Constituent Assembly on 19 November. On 17 September, however, the Government submitted an ordinance to the President's Office to return the statutory number of members of the Constituent Assembly to 601, the same as the legislature elected in 2008. Later on the same day, President Ram Baran Yadav (NC) endorsed the government's request.
Date of previous elections: 10 April 2008

Date of dissolution of the outgoing legislature: 27 May 2012

Timing of election: Delayed elections

Expected date of next elections: November 2017

Number of seats at stake: 575 (full renewal)

Number of candidates: 16,927 (6,147 candidates under the majority system and 10,709 under the proportional representation system)

Percentage of women candidates: About 10% under the majority system and 49.4% under the proportional representation system

Number of parties contesting the election: 122

Number of parties winning seats: 30

Alternation of power: Yes

Number of parties in government: 2

Names of parties in government: Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal (UML)

Date of the first session of the new parliament: 22 January 2014

Name of the new Speaker: Mr. Subas Nembang (Nepali Congress, NC)
STATISTICS
Voter turnout
Round no 119 November 2013
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes
12'147'865
9'463'862 (77.91%)

Notes
Distribution of seats
Round no 1
Political Group Total Majority seats Proportional seats
Nepali Congress (NC) 196 105 91
Communist Party of Nepal (UML) 175 91 84
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) 80 26 54
Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal 24 0 24
Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal (Loktantrik) 14 4 10
National Democratic Party (RPP: Rashtriya Prajatantra Party) 13 3 10
Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party 11 4 7
Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal 10 2 8
Sadbhavana Party 6 1 5
Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist Leninist) 5 0 5
Federal Socialist Party 5 0 5
Nepal Workers' and Peasants' Party 4 1 3
Terai Madhes Sadbhavana Party 3 1 2
Rastriya Janamorcha 3 0 3
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified) 3 0 3
Rashtriya Madhesh Samajwadi Party 3 0 3
Independents 2 2 0
Nepal Pariwar Dal 2 0 2
Dalit Janajati Party 2 0 2
Tharuwat Tarai Party, Nepal 2 0 2
Rastriya Janamukti Party 2 0 2
Sanghiya Sadbhawana Party 1 0 1
Khambuwan Rastriya Morcha, Nepal 1 0 1
Aakhanda Nepal Party 1 0 1
Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch (Tharuhat) 1 0 1
Samajvadi Janata Party 1 0 1
Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum (Ganatantrik) 1 0 1
Nepali Janata Dal 1 0 1
Jana Jagaran Party Nepal 1 0 1
Madesh Samata Party Nepal 1 0 1
Nepal Rastriya Party (NRP) 1 0 1
Distribution of seats according to sex
Men
Women
Percent of women
403
172
29.91%
Distribution of seats according to age
Distribution of seats according to profession
Comments
Sources:
Constituent Assembly (26.12.2013, 14.01.2014, 18.10.2014, 17.04.2015, 21.04.2015, 14.03.2016)
http://anfrel.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Nepal-Final-Report-Publish-2013_Logo-edited.pdf

Note on the number of women
- Of the 575 members elected in 2013, 172 were women.
- As at October 2014, 22 of the 26 members, including four women, had been appointed.
- As at 19 October 2014, 176 of the 597 members were women, with four vacancies.

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