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Krishna Sitaula resigned. On 27 May 2012, the country's Constituent Assembly failed to meet the deadline for
writing a new constitution for the country. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai announced that new elections will be
held on 22 November. "We have no other option but to go back to the people and elect a new assembly to write the
constitution," he said in a nationally televised speech. One of the main obstacles has been disagreement over whether
the states which will be created will be based on ethnicity.
Nepal is one of the few countries in Asia to abolish the death penalty and the first country in Asia to rule in favor of
same-sex marriage. The decision was based on a seven-person government committee study, and enacted through
Supreme Court's ruling November 2008. The ruling granted full rights for LGBT individuals, including the right to
marry and now can get citizenship as a third gender rather than male or female as authorized by Nepal's Supreme
Court in 2007.
Environmental policy
As a mountainous country with agriculture, hydropower and tourism all important for its economy, Nepal is
vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns and incidents of
drought. According to the Climate & Development Knowledge Network, this has prompted the government to
introduce new initiatives and institutional reforms.
Government
Singha Durbar, the seat of Nepalese government
Nepal is a multi-party system federal republic. The Interim
Constitution of Nepal, 2063 has defined three organs of the
government.
Executive: The executive power of Nepal is vested in the Council of
Ministers. The responsibility of issuing general directives,
controlling and regulating the administration of Nepal lie in the
Council of Ministers. The Prime Minister of Nepal is the head of the
Government. The Prime Minister appoints the Ministers. While
appointing Ministers, the Prime Minister shall appoint them, on the
recommendation of the concerned political party, from amongst the
members of the Legislature-Parliament.
Legislative: The Legislature-Parliament of Nepal is unicameral. Constituent assembly is working as the
legislature of Nepal at present. The legislature is composed of 601 members. Among them, 240 members are
directly elected by the people from 240 constituencies. 335 members are elected through proportional basis and
26 members are nominated by the cabinet. All the bills are presented in the parliament. After passing the bills by
the majority. After his approval, it becomes the law. In this way, all the laws are made in the parliament. The
legislative controls over the finance of the country. Legislative passes the annual budget according to which the
government spends money in various tasks. Legislative can raise questions to any work of the government. If the
government does not work properly, legislative can withdraw its support and government is dissolved. In this way
the legislative has control over the executive.
Judiciary: The Constitution provides three tiers of Court which include the Supreme Court of Nepal, the Court of
Appeal and the District Courts. Supreme Court is the Apex Court. All courts and judicial institutions except the
constitutional assembly court, are under the Supreme Court. There is no distinction between Criminal and Civil
court except some basic procedures. District Court is the Court of first instance upon which Court of Appeal hear
appeal. In addition to these regular courts there is provision in constitution to establish special types of courts or
tribunals for the purpose of hearing special types of cases by the law. According to these provision there are four
Revenue Tribunals, one Administrative Court, one Labor Court, one Debt Recovery tribunal and one Debt
recovery Appeal Tribunal and one special court are functioning under the respective laws. These institutions are
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under the judicial control of the Supreme Court. There are 16 Court of Appeal and 15 Districts in Nepal. The
Supreme Court is also the ultimate interpreter of the constitution.
Subdivisions
Main articles: Development Regions of Nepal, List of zones of Nepal and List of districts of Nepal
Administrative subdivisions of Nepal
Nepal is divided into 14 zones and 75 districts, grouped into five
development regions. Each district is headed by a permanent chief
district officer responsible for maintaining law and order and
coordinating the work of field agencies of the various government
ministries. The five regions and 14 zones are:
Eastern Region (Purwanchal)
Koshi
Mechi
Sagarmatha
Central Region (Madhyamanchal)
Bagmati
Janakpur
Narayani
Western Region (Pashchimanchal)
Dhawalagiri
Gandaki
Lumbini
Mid-Western Region (Madhya Pashchimanchal)
Bheri
Karnali
Rapti
Far-Western Region (Sudur Pashchimanchal)
Mahakali
Seti
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Nepalese Armed Forces and Foreign relations of Nepal
Nepal has close ties with both of its neighbors, India and China. In accordance with a long-standing treaty, Indian
and Nepalese citizens may travel to each other's countries without a passport or visa. Nepalese citizens may work in
India without legal restriction. The Indian Army maintains seven Gorkha regiments consisting of Gorkha troops
recruited mostly from Nepal.
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Khukuri symbolic weapon of the Nepalese Army
and Gurkha
However, since the Government of Nepal has been dominated by
Socialists and India's by more right-wing parties, India has been
remilitarizing the "porous" Indo-Nepali border, to stifle the flow of
Islamist groups.
Nepal established relations with the People's Republic of China on 1
August 1955, and relations since have been based on the Five
Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Nepal has aided China in the
aftermath of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, and China has provided
economic assistance for Nepali infrastructure. Both countries have
cooperated to host the 2008 Summer Olympics summit of Mt. Everest.
Nepal has assisted in curbing anti-China protests from the Tibetan
diaspora.
Nepal's military consists of the Nepalese Army, which includes the Nepalese Army Air Service. The Nepalese Police
Force is the civilian police and the Armed Police Force Nepal is the paramilitary force. Service is voluntary and the
minimum age for enlistment is 18 years. Nepal spends $99.2 million (2004) on its military1.5% of its GDP. Much
of the equipment and arms are imported from India. Consequently, the US provided M16s M4s and other Colt
weapons to combat communist (Maoist) insurgents. The standard-issue battle rifle of the Nepalese army is the Colt
M16.
In the new regulations by Nepalese Army, female soldiers have been barred from participating in combat situations
and fighting in the frontlines of war. However, they are allowed to be a part of the army in sections like intelligence,
headquarters, signals and operations.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Nepal
Terraced farming on the foothills of the
Himalayas.
Kathmandu street vendors
Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2012 was estimated at over
$17.921 billion (adjusted to Nominal GDP). In 2010, agriculture
accounted for 36.1%, services comprise 48.5%, and industry 15.4% of
Nepal's GDP. While agriculture and industry is contracting, the
contribution by service sector is increasing. Agriculture employs 76%
of the workforce, services 18% and manufacturing/craft-based industry
6%.Wikipedia:Citation needed Agricultural produce mostly grown in
the Terai region bordering India includes tea, rice, corn, wheat,
sugarcane, root crops, milk, and water buffalo meat. Industry mainly
involves the processing of agricultural produce, including jute,
sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Its workforce of about 10 million suffers
from a severe shortage of skilled labor.
Nepal's economic growth continues to be adversely affected by the
political uncertainty. Nevertheless, real GDP growth is estimated to
increase to almost 5 percent for 2011/2012. This is a considerable
improvement from the 3.5 percent GDP growth in 2010/2011 and
would be the second highest growth rate in the post-conflict era.
Sources of growth include agriculture, construction, financial and other
services. The contribution of growth by consumption fueled by