The four noble families to be involved in the active politics of the Kingdom of Nepal before the rise of the Rana dynasty were the Shah dynasty, the Basnyat family, the Pande dynasty and the Thapa dynasty.[16] At the end of 18th century, the Thapas and the Pandes had extreme dominance over Nepalese Darbar politics, alternatively contesting for central power with one another.[17] Early politics in the Kingdom of Nepal was characterised by factionalism, conspiracies and murders, including two major massacres.[a] After almost a century of power-wrangling among the Basnyat, Pande and Thapa families, the military leader Bir Narsingh Kunwar[b] emerged on top in the aftermath of the Kot massacre, and established the Rana dynasty in 1846, which consolidated powers of the king and prime minister and would reign for another century with a policy of oppression and isolationism.[18][19]
Mahendra of Nepal, the King and prime minister of Nepal who established the partyless Panchayat system
By the 1930s, Nepali expatriates in India had started smuggling in writings on political philosophies, which gave birth to a vibrant underground political movement in the capital, birthing Nepal Praja Parishad in 1939, which was dissolved only two years later, following the execution of the four great martyrs. Around the same time, Nepalis involved in the Indian Independence Movement began organising into political parties, leading to the birth of the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal. Following Indian independence, Nepali Congress was successful in overthrowing the Rana regime with support from the Indian government and cooperation from the king.[20] While communism was still trying to find its footing, Nepali Congress enjoyed overwhelming support of the electorate. Following a brief ten-year exercise in democracy, the autocratic Panchayat system was initiated, this time by the King, who deposed the democratically elected government of Nepali Congress, imprisoned or exiled prominent leaders and issued a ban on party politics.[20][21][22][7]
Many political parties and their leaders remained underground or in exile for the next 30 years of "partyless" politics in Nepal.[23] BP Koirala was released from prison in 1968 and went into exile in Benaras, returning in 1976 only to immediately be put in house arrest.[20] Although an armed insurgency launched by the major communist faction called the Jhapa movement had failed comprehensively by 1971, it formed the foundation for the dominant communist power, CPN (ML), that was officially launched in 1978.[24] A general referendum was held in 1980, which saw the CPN ML campaign for the option of multi-party democracy, along with Nepali Congress, but the Panchayat System was declared the winner to significant controversy.[22] The Panchayat rule saw governments led by a group of monarchy loyalists taking turns, with Surya Bahadur Thapa, Tulsi Giri and Kirti Nidhi Bista becoming prime minister three times each, among others. It introduced a number of reforms, built infrastructures and modernised the country, while significantly curtailing political freedom, imposing the Nepali language and Khas culture to the oppression of all others, and spreading Indophobic propaganda, the effects of which are experienced to the present day.[20][7]
In 1990, the joint civil resistance launched by the United Left front and Nepali Congress was successful in overthrowing the Panchayat, and the country became a constitutional monarchy.[20][25] The United Left Front became CPN UML.[7] The Panchayat loyalists formed National Democratic Party, which emerged as the third major party. While Nepali Congress ran the government for most of the next ten years of democracy that followed, democracy was mostly a disappointment owing to the immature democratic culture and political infighting in the capital, as well as the civil war that followed the guerrilla insurgency launched by the Maoist Party.
21st century
Balen Shah, the current prime minister of Nepal since 2026
B. P. Koirala,first democratically elected Prime Minister of Nepal
Following a four-year autocratic rule by King Gyanendra that failed to defeat the Maoists, a mass civil protest was launched by a coalition of the Maoists and the political parties in 2006, which forced the king to stepped down, brought the Maoists to the peace process, and established a democratic republic by 2008.[26][27]
Following the political consensus to draft the new constitution of the Republic via a constituent assembly, Nepali politics saw a rise in nationalist groups and ideologies. While the political power-wrangling caused continuous instability, maintaining the established average of nine months per government, this period saw two constituent assembly elections and the rise of Madhesi nationalist parties, especially in the Eastern Terai region.[28][29][30][31] By 2015, the new constitution had been promulgated and Nepal became "a federal democratic republic striving towards democratic socialism".[8] In 2017, a series of elections were held according to the new constitution, which established Nepal Communist Party (NCP) (formally united after the election) as the ruling party at the federal level as well as six of the seven provinces, Nepali Congress as the only significant opposition in federal and provincial levels, while the Madhesi coalition formed the provincial government in Province No. 2, but boasts negligible presence in the rest of the country.[32][33] After the adoption of the new constitution, Nepalese politics were dominated by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, KP Sharma Oli, and Sher Bahadur Deuba, who all dominated House of Representatives elections between 2017 and 2026.[34] In municipal politics, rapperBalen Shah became the first independent candidate to be elected mayor of Kathmandu in 2022.[35]
In September 2025, a ban on numerous social media platforms was met by widespread protests that also came to be directed against corruption by ruling politicians. On 9 September, Oli resigned as the prime minister on 9 September 2025.[36] Former chief justice Sushila Karki was sworn in as interim prime minister on 12 September, the first woman in the role.[37] Nepal's 2026 general election was a major realignment, with Shah's Rastriya Swatantra Party surging and forming a majority government, a first in 1991.
The Parliament of Nepal (Sansad) has two chambers: the House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha) has 275 members elected for five-year term in single-seat constituencies. The National Assembly (Rashtriya Sabha) has 59 members, 8 from each state and the remaining 3 from the private concern of the government.
The judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court (सर्बोच्च अदालत), Appellate courts, and various District courts. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is appointed by president on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the other judges are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial Council.[41]
Nepal's judiciary is legally separate from the executive and legislative and has increasingly shown the will to be independent of political influence. The judiciary has the right of judicial review under the constitution.[citation needed]
The executive is headed by prime minister while president remains head of state. Nepal has provision for executive prime minister per the present Constitution of Nepal. The role of president is largely ceremonial as the functioning of the government is managed entirely by the prime minister who is appointed by the Parliament.
As per the Constitution of Nepal, there are 753 local levels, Rual municipalities and municipalities which are referred to as the village executive and municipal executive respectively. The district assembly is governed by the District Coordination Committee.
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