Prime Minister of Nepal

Emblem of Nepal

Flag of Nepal

The **prime minister of Nepal** is the head of government of Nepal. Together with their Council of Ministers, the prime minister exercises executive power in the country.

The prime minister must enjoy the confidence in the Pratinidhi Sabha before being appointed by the president and shall resign if they are unable to retain the majority in the House.

The residence of the prime minister of Nepal is in Baluwatar, Kathmandu. The seat of the prime minister is Singha Darbar since the time of Chandra Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana. The basic monthly salary of the prime minister of Nepal is NPR 77,280.

The current prime minister is Pushpa Kamal Dahal from CPN (Maoist Center) since 25 December 2022. He was appointed by the President Bidhya Devi Bhandari as per Article 76(2) of the Constitution of Nepal.

## Introduction

The position of **prime minister of Nepal** in modern form was called by different names at different times of Nepalese history. At the time of the Shah dynasty, either **Chautariya**, **Kaji** or **Mulkajis** (Chief Kajis) served the function of prime ministers Abhiman Singh Basnyat was first Mulkaji appointed by Bahadur Shah at 1785-1794 after that his nephew Kirtiman Singh Basnyat was appointed as Mulkaji from 1794 – 1801 September after that his younger brother Bakhtawar Singh Basnyat was appointed as Mulkaji in 1801-1803 and after that Damodar Pandey became Mulkaji till February 1803 – March 1804. In 1804 the position of **Mukhtiyar** was created by Rana Bahadur Shah which carried executive powers of nation. *Mukhtiyar* is formed from two words: *Mukhya* and *Akhtiyar*. *Mukhya* means Chief and *Akhtiyar* means Authority. Altogether it means the "executive head of the state". *Mukhtiyar* held the position of executive head till adoption of title of prime minister in 1843 A.D. The first Mukhtiyar to title himself as prime minister, as per the British convention, was the last *Mukhtiyar* Mathabar Singh Thapa. Mathabar Singh became Mukhtiyar as well as prime minister and Commander-In-Chief of the Nepalese army in November 1843  by the declaration of second queen of Rajendra, Queen Rajya Laxmi Devi. During the Rana dynasty, the position of prime minister was hereditary and the officeholder held additional titles — Maharaja of Lambjang and Kaski, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of Nepal and Grand Master of the Royal Orders of Nepal.

## Powers

The prime minister has a more enhanced constitutional role than his counterparts in other parliamentary democracies. This is because Section 75 of the Constitution explicitly vests the executive power of the federal government in the Council of Ministers–of which the prime minister is the leader–not the president. In most other parliamentary republics, the president is at least the nominal chief executive, while being bound by convention to act on the advice of the cabinet. Per Section 76, the prime minister is the chairman of the Council of Ministers and thus exercises executive power collectively with the Council of Ministers.

## Appointment

Under Section 76, part 7 of the Constitution, the president is required to appoint the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives as prime minister. If no party has a majority, the president is required to appoint an MP who has the support of a coalition of parties who between them have a majority in the chamber–in practice, the leader of the senior partner in such a coalition. If no majority coalition can be formed within 30 days of the final result of a parliamentary election, the president is required to appoint the leader of the largest party in the chamber. In the latter cases, the person appointed as prime minister must win a confidence vote within 30 days. However, if a confidence vote is unsuccessful, the president must appoint an MP who can demonstrate command the confidence of the House. In the event that no member can command the confidence of the House within 55 days of the announcement of the final results of the election, new elections must be held within six months.

## Removal

The vacation process of the prime minister as per Section 77 (1) of 2015 Constitution of Nepal is as follows:

The prime minister shall cease to hold office in the following circumstances:

1. If he/she tenders written resignation to the president,
2. If a vote of confidence fails to be approved according to Article (100), or a motion of no confidence is passed,
3. If he/she ceases to be a member of the House of Representatives,
4. If he/she dies.

Furthermore, the Section 77 (3) states: If the prime minister ceases to hold the office according to clause (1), the same council of ministers shall continue to work until another council of ministers is constituted, provided that, in the case of the death of the prime minister, the senior most minister shall continue to act as prime minister until a new prime minister is appointed.

## See also

* List of prime ministers of Nepal
* King of Nepal
* President of Nepal
* Government of Nepal