The Federal Parliament is the national legislature of Nepal. It makes federal laws, passes the budget and keeps the government answerable to the people. Its rules are set out mainly in Part 8 (Federal Legislature) and Part 9 (Federal Legislative Procedure) of the Constitution of Nepal 2072. Questions on its numbers, terms and article numbers appear often in Lok Sewa exams, so this note collects them in one place.
1. A bicameral Federal Parliament
Article 83 says there shall be a legislature called the Federal Parliament, made up of two Houses:
- the House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha), the lower House, and
- the National Assembly (Rashtriya Sabha), the upper House.
A legislature with two Houses is called bicameral. Together the two Houses have 334 members (275 plus 59).
| Feature | House of Representatives | National Assembly |
|---|---|---|
| Article | 84 | 86 |
| Total members | 275 | 59 |
| Term | Five years (can be dissolved earlier) | Permanent House; each member serves six years |
| Minimum age of a member | 25 years | 35 years |
| Presiding officers | Speaker and Deputy Speaker | Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson |
2. House of Representatives: composition and election
Under Article 84, the House of Representatives has 275 members:
- 165 members elected by the first past the post (FPTP) system, one from each of 165 constituencies;
- 110 members elected by the proportional representation (PR) system, in which the whole country is treated as one constituency and votes are cast for political parties.
Other important points of Article 84:
- For PR seats, parties put up closed lists that must give representation to groups such as women, Dalit, Adibasi Janajati, Khas Arya, Madhesi, Tharu, Muslim and people of backward regions, and the law must also cover persons with disabilities.
- Elections are held by secret ballot.
- Every Nepali citizen who has reached 18 years of age can vote, as provided by law.
- A person cannot be a candidate from more than one constituency at the same election.
- If a seat falls vacant when more than six months of the House’s term remain, it is filled by the same method by which that member was elected.
3. Term of the House of Representatives
Article 85 fixes the term of the House of Representatives at five years, unless it is dissolved earlier under the Constitution. When a state of emergency is in force, a federal Act may extend the term, but by not more than one year. So the House is not permanent; it ends when its term is over or when it is dissolved, and a fresh election is held.
4. National Assembly: composition and term
Article 86 describes the National Assembly. It is a permanent House, which means it is never dissolved as a whole. It has 59 members:
- 56 elected members, 8 from each of the 7 provinces. Each province’s eight must include at least three women, one Dalit and one person with disability or from a minority.
- 3 members nominated by the President on the recommendation of the Government of Nepal, including at least one woman.
The 56 members are chosen by an electoral college in each province. This college is made up of members of the Provincial Assembly, chairpersons and vice-chairpersons of rural municipalities, and mayors and deputy mayors of municipalities. Their votes carry different weight, as set by federal law.
Term: each member serves six years. The terms are staggered so that one-third of the members retire every two years. To start this cycle, after the Constitution came into force, lots were drawn so that one-third retired after two years, one-third after four years and the last one-third after six years. Because only a part leaves at a time, the House always continues.
5. Qualifications of members
Article 87 lists who can become a member of either House. A person must:
- be a citizen of Nepal;
- have completed 25 years of age for the House of Representatives, or 35 years for the National Assembly;
- not have been convicted of a criminal offence involving moral turpitude;
- not be disqualified by any federal law;
- not hold an office of profit.
A person cannot be a member of both Houses at the same time.
6. Speaker, Deputy Speaker, Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson
Article 91 (House of Representatives): the House elects a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from among its members within fifteen days of its first meeting. The election must be held so that:
- one of the two is a woman, and
- the two represent different parties.
Article 92 (National Assembly): the Assembly elects a Chairperson and a Vice-Chairperson from among its members, also within fifteen days of its first meeting. The rule here is that one of the two must be a woman. Unlike the House of Representatives, the Constitution does not require the two National Assembly officers to come from different parties.
7. Sessions and quorum
Article 93 (sessions):
- The President summons the session of the Federal Parliament.
- After an election to the House of Representatives, the first session must be called within thirty days of the final election results.
- The gap between two sessions must not be more than six months.
- The President may prorogue (end) a session.
- If, while Parliament is not in session, one-fourth of the members of the House of Representatives petition for a session, the President must fix a date for it.
Article 94 (quorum): no question or motion can be put for decision in either House unless one-fourth of its total members are present. In the House of Representatives this means at least 69 members (275 divided by 4 is 68.75).
A related fraction (Article 101): an impeachment motion can be moved by one-fourth of the total members of the House of Representatives. It passes only by a two-thirds majority of total members: of both Houses for the President or Vice-President, and of the House of Representatives for office holders such as the Chief Justice.
8. Bills and the Money Bill
Most bills can start in either House. A Money Bill is different.
- Under Article 110, a Money Bill (a bill on taxes, government spending, loans and similar money matters) can be introduced only in the House of Representatives, and only as a government bill.
- If a question arises whether a bill is a Money Bill, the Speaker’s decision is final.
Article 111 sets the time the National Assembly gets after receiving a bill passed by the House of Representatives:
| Type of bill | Time for the National Assembly to return it |
|---|---|
| Money Bill | 15 days, with suggestions if any |
| Other bills | Two months |
If the National Assembly does not return a bill within this time, or rejects it, the House of Representatives can pass it again by a majority of its total members and send it for the President’s authentication. In this way the elected lower House has the final say, especially on money matters.
9. Women’s representation
The Constitution has several rules to make sure women are present in Parliament:
- At least one-third of the total members elected from each political party represented in the Federal Parliament must be women (Article 84).
- Each province’s eight National Assembly members include at least three women, and the three nominated members include at least one woman. So the National Assembly always has at least 22 women (7 times 3, plus 1).
- One of the two presiding officers in each House must be a woman (Articles 91 and 92).
📌 Key points to remember
- Article 83: the Federal Parliament has two Houses, so it is bicameral; total 334 members.
- House of Representatives (Article 84): 275 members, 165 by FPTP and 110 by PR.
- Its term is five years (Article 85); in an emergency it can be extended by up to one year.
- National Assembly (Article 86): permanent House of 59 members, 56 elected (8 per province, including at least three women, one Dalit and one person with disability or minority) and 3 nominated by the President.
- National Assembly members serve six years; one-third retire every two years.
- Minimum age: 25 for the House of Representatives, 35 for the National Assembly (Article 87).
- Speaker and Deputy Speaker: one must be a woman and they must be from different parties (Article 91).
- Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson: one must be a woman (Article 92).
- First session within 30 days of final results; gap between sessions not more than six months (Article 93).
- Quorum is one-fourth of total members (Article 94).
- A Money Bill starts only in the House of Representatives; the National Assembly must return it within 15 days, and other bills within two months.
- At least one-third of each party’s elected members must be women.
Test yourself: Federal Parliament of Nepal
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