2021 Nepalese general election

General elections will be held in Nepal in two phases on 30 April and 10 May 2021 to elect the 275 members of the sixth House of Representatives, the lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal.[1] The fifth House of Representatives had a five year term ending in March 2023 but was dissolved on 20 December 2020 by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on the recommendation of the Council of Ministers.[2] The legitimacy of the dissolution is being challenged in the Supreme Court.[3]

2021 Nepalese general election

30 April 10 May 2021
All 275 seats in the House of Representatives 138 seats needed for a majority
Leader K. P. Sharma Oli or Madhav Kumar Nepal (Disputed) Pushpa Kamal Dahal Sher Bahadur Deuba Upendra Yadav Mahantha Thakur Party NCP Congress PSP-N Leader since 17 May 2018 7 March 2016 8 June 2020 Leader's seat TBD TBD TBD Last election New party 63 seats, 32.78% New party Current seats 174 63 34 Seats needed 75 104
A map of Nepal parliamentary constituencies
Incumbent Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli CPN (UML)

Background

In May 2018, the CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and CPN (Maoist Centre) parties merged to form the Nepal Communist Party. The merger between the two coalition partners took their total strength in the House of Representatives to 174.[4][5] The leaders of the two parties had an agreement to share the post of Prime Minister with the CPN (Unified Marxist–Leninist) Chairman K.P. Sharma Oli handing over the post to CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal after two and a half years. On 20 November 2019, the two leaders agreed to let Oli complete his full term as prime minister.[6] In a Secretariat meeting of the Nepal Communist Party on 14 November 2020, Dahal presented a political document which accused Oli not following party orders and being individualistic.[7] In response to Dahal, Oli rejected Dahal's accusations and presented his own political document which accused Dahal of not letting Oli run the government.[8] As the strife within the party continued, K. P. Sharma Oli requested President Bidhya Devi Bhandari to dissolve the House of Representatives on 20 December 2020 as a no-confidence motion was being prepared against him.[2][9][10] In protest of the decision by Oli, seven ministers of the cabinet resigned.[11][12]

Electoral system

The 275 members of the legislature will be elected by two methods; 165 will be elected from single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting and 110 seats will be elected by closed list proportional representation from a single nationwide constituency.[13] Voters receive separate ballot papers for the two methods. A party or electoral alliance has to pass the election threshold of 3% of the overall valid vote to be allocated a seat in the proportional vote.[14]

Voting is limited to Nepali citizens aged 18 or over of sound mind and not having been declared ineligible under federal election fraud and punishment laws.[15]

Parties

Present in the legislature at dissolution

Party		Ideology	At dissolution	2017 result
				Votes (%)		Seats
	Nepal Communist Party	Communism	174 / 275	CPN (UML)	33.25	121 / 275
				Maoist Centre	13.66	53 / 275
	Nepali Congress	Third Way	63 / 275	32.78		63 / 275
	People's Socialist Party, Nepal	Social democracy	34 / 275	RJPN	4.95	17 / 275
				FSFN	4.93	16 / 275
				Naya Shakti	0.86	1 / 275
	Rastriya Prajatantra Party[lower-alpha 1]	Hindutva Neoliberalism	1 / 275	RPP	2.06	1 / 275
				RPP(D)	0.93	0 / 275
				URPP(N)	0.30	0 / 275
	Rastriya Janamorcha[lower-alpha 1]	Communism	1 / 275	0.65		1 / 275
	Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party[lower-alpha 1]	Juche	1 / 275	0.59		1 / 275
	Independent[lower-alpha 2]	—	1 / 275	—		1 / 275

1. Represented as Independent in 2017 for not meeting the threshold
2. Joined the NCP but stayed as an Independent

References

1. "Nepal to hold national elections between April 30 and May 10". December 20, 2020.
2. "Oli sacrifices the constitution to save his skin". Recordnepal. Gyanu Adhikari. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
3. "संसद विघटनविरूद्धका १२ रिट प्रधानन्यायाधीश राणा आफैंले हेर्दै". Setopati. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
4. "Nepal's 2 major parties merge to form Nepal Communist Party - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
5. "UML- Maoist Center unification approved, new party to be registered today itself". My Republica. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
6. Subedi, Binu. "नेकपा विवाद : घुमीफिरी मंसिर ४". Ekantipur. Kailash Sirohiya. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
7. "At Secretariat meet, Dahal asks Oli to 'sacrifice' for saving party and republic". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
8. "Oli goes on the offensive as he responds to Dahal's allegations". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
9. "Parliament Secretariat says no-confidence motion against Oli was registered after House dissolution decision". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
10. Setopati, Setopati. "Preparations were on to register no confidence motion against me: PM Oli". Setopati. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
11. "Seven ministers, all from the Dahal-Nepal faction in ruling party, resign". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
12. "7 Nepali ministers resign over dissolution of parliament - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2020-12-30.
13. Article 84 Constitution of Nepal
14. Kafle, Narayn (5 September 2017). "स‌ंसद् र प्रदेशको निर्वाचन विधेयक पारित". Gorkhapatra. Gorkhapatra Sansthan. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
15. "Electoral Roll Act, 2017". section 6 & 23, Act No. 23 of 2 February 2017 (PDF) (in Nepali). Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.