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House of Representatives (Nepal)

Lower house of Parliament of Nepal

Summary

Lower house of Parliament of Nepal

Field	Value
background_color	navy
name	Pratinidhi Sabha
native_name	प्रतिनिधि सभा
native_name_lang	Nepali
coa_caption	Emblem of Nepal
coa_res	130px
session_room	Nepalese Constituent Assembly Building.jpg
house_type	Lower house
body	Federal Parliament of Nepal
preceded_by	2nd Nepalese Constituent Assembly
term_limits	5 years
leader1_type	Speaker
leader1	Vacant
leader2_type	Deputy Speaker
leader2	Vacant
leader3_type	Leader of the House
leader3	Vacant
election3	12 September 2025
leader4_type	Leader of the Opposition
leader4	Vacant
election4	12 September 2025
legislature	2nd Federal Parliament
members	275
structure1_res	250px
political_groups1	Dissolved
voting_system1	Parallel voting:
last_election1	20 November 2022
next_election1	5 March 2026
meeting_place	International Convention Centre, New Baneshwor, Kathmandu, Nepal
website

165 seats – FPTP
110 seats – PR

The House of Representatives, commonly known as Pratinidhi Sabha (; ), is one of the houses of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, with the other house being the National Assembly. Members of the House of Representatives are elected through a parallel voting system. They hold their seats for five years or until the body is dissolved by the president on the advice of the council of ministers. The house meets at the International Convention Centre in Kathmandu.

The House has 275 members; 165 elected from single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post voting and 110 elected through proportional electoral system where voters vote for political parties, considering the whole country as a single election constituency. The House of Representatives, unless dissolved, continues to operate for five years from the date appointed for its first meeting. However, in a state of emergency, the term of the House of Representatives may be extended, not exceeding one year in accordance with federal law.

The current House of Representatives was elected by the general elections held on 20 November 2022, and its first session convened on 9 January 2023. Followed by the political unrest and Gen Z protest, the parliament was dissolved by the president on 12 September 2025.

History

Parliament of Kingdom of Nepal, 1959–1962

The 1959 constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, proclaimed on 12 February 1959, first mentions the Pratinidhi Sabha first as follows: "There shall be a Parliament which shall consist of His Majesty and two Houses, to be known respectively as the Senate (Maha Sabha) and the House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha)" (Article No. 18, Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1959).

The 1959 constitution was abrogated on 16 December 1962 when the new Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1962 was proclaimed and the parliament of the kingdom became unicameral.

Post-Panchayat, 1990–2002

The House of Representatives was first provided for by the "Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990", which replaced the former panchayat system of parliament with a bicameral parliament. It consisted of 205 members directly elected from single-member constituencies. It had five-year terms, but it could be dissolved by the King on the advice of the Prime Minister before the end of its term.

Dissolution, 2002–2007

Pratinidhi Sabha building of Nepal (moderation of ancient Gallery Hall)

In May 2002, the House of Representatives was dissolved by King Gyanendra on advice of the then prime minister, Sher Bahadur Deuba, in order to hold new elections.{{cite web |access-date= 16 December 2017 |access-date= 16 December 2017 |access-date= 16 December 2017

Federal Parliament of Nepal, 2015–present

The Constitution of Nepal was drafted by the 2nd Constituent Assembly and the provision for a bicameral legislature was re-adopted. The House of Representatives became the lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal and its first election was held in 2017.

Members

The composition and powers of the house are established by Parts 8 and 9 of the Constitution of Nepal. The qualifications for becoming a member of the House are laid out in Article 87 of the Constitution and House of Representatives Election Act, 2017. Members must be:

a citizen of Nepal
twenty five years or older on date of nomination
without a criminal offense conviction involving moral turpitude
not disqualified by any federal law
not hold any office of profit (paid by the government).{{cite web |access-date= 16 December 2017 In addition to this, no member can be a member of both the House of Representatives and the National Assembly.

Vacation of seat

The seat of a member of House of Representatives may be considered vacant in the following circumstances:

Written resignation to the Speaker
Unable to comply to Article 91
Expired term of office / house
Unclarified / uninformed absence for ten consecutive house sessions
Resignation / removal from the party to which the candidate was associated during election
Death

Before dissolution membership

Party	Parliamentary Party leader	Seats	Total	275
	Sher Bahadur Deuba	88
	K.P. Sharma Oli	79
	Pushpa Kamal Dahal	32
	Rabi Lamichhane	21
	Rajendra Lingden	14
	Madhav Kumar Nepal	10
	Ashok Rai	7
	Chandra Kant Raut	6
	Upendra Yadav	5
	Mahantha Thakur	4
	Ranjeeta Shrestha	4
	Prem Suwal	1
	Chitra Bahadur KC	1
	Prabhu Sah	1
		2

Composition by province

Province	Constituencies
Koshi	28
Madhesh	32
Bagmati	33
Gandaki	18
Lumbini	26
Karnali	12
Sudurpashchim	16

Officers of the House of Representatives

Speakers of the House of Representatives

Name	Assumed office	Left office	Term
Nepali Congress}}"	Krishna Prasad Bhattarai	Nepali Congress	3 July 1959	15 December 1960
Nepali Congress}}"	Daman Nath Dhungana	23 June 1991	1 October 1994	2nd House of Representatives
Nepali Congress}}"	Ram Chandra Poudel	18 December 1994	23 March 1999	3rd House of Representatives
Nepali Congress}}"	Taranath Ranabhat	23 June 1999	28 April 2006	4th House of Representatives
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}}"	Subas Chandra Nembang	CPN (UML)	13 May 2006	15 January 2007
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)}}"	Krishna Bahadur Mahara	CPN (Maoist Centre)	10 February 2018	1 October 2019
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)}}"	Agni Prasad Sapkota	26 January 2020	18 September 2022
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}}"	Dev Raj Ghimire	CPN (UML)	19 January 2023	19 January 2026

Deputy speakers of the House of Representatives

Name	Assumed office	Left office	Term
Nepali Congress}}"	Mahendra Narayan Nidhi	Nepali Congress	31 March 1960	15 December 1960
Nepali Congress}}"	Mahantha Thakur	23 June 1991	17 December 1994	2nd House of Representatives
Rastriya Prajatantra Party}}"	Ram Vilas Yadav	Rastriya Prajatantra Party	18 December 1994	13 October 1997
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}}"	Lila Shrestha Subba	CPN (UML)	6 May 1998	10 October 1998
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}}"	Bhojraj Joshi	14 October 1998	23 March 1999
Nepali Congress}}"	Chitra Lekha Yadav	Nepali Congress	29 June 1999	17 January 2007
Interim Legislature
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}}"	Shiva Maya Tumbahamphe	CPN (UML)	18 March 2018	20 January 2020
Nepali Congress}}"	Pushpa Bhusal	Nepali Congress	15 July 2022	18 September 2022
Rastriya Swatantra Party}}"	Indira Ranamagar	Rastriya Swatantra Party	21 January 2023	28 December 2025

Terms of the House of Representatives

Elected in	Term	Seats	Start	End	Elected prime minister
(during term)	Party	Head of State	Parliament of the Kingdom of Nepal	Monarch	Federal Parliament of Nepal	President
1959	1st House of Representatives	109	May 1959	December 1960	Nepali Congress}}"		Bisheshwar Prasad Koirala
(Cabinet)	Nepali Congress	Mahendra of Nepal
1991	2nd House of Representatives	205	May 1991	August 1994	Nepali Congress}}"		Girija Prasad Koirala
(Cabinet)	Birendra of Nepal
1994	3rd House of Representatives	November 1994	May 1999	Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}}"		Manmohan Adhikari
(Cabinet)	CPN (UML)
Nepali Congress}}"		Sher Bahadur Deuba
(Cabinet)	Nepali Congress
Rastriya Prajatantra Party}}"		Lokendra Bahadur Chand
(Cabinet)	Rastriya Prajatantra Party
Surya Bahadur Thapa
(Cabinet)
Nepali Congress}}"		Girija Prasad Koirala
(Cabinet)	Nepali Congress
1999	4th House of Representatives	May 1999	May 2002	Nepali Congress}}"		Krishna Prasad Bhattarai
(Cabinet)
Girija Prasad Koirala
(Cabinet)
Gyanendra of Nepal
Sher Bahadur Deuba
(Cabinet)
Interim Legislature	329	April 2006	April 2008	Nepali Congress}}"		Girija Prasad Koirala
(Cabinet)
2017	5th House of Representatives	275	4 March 2018	18 September 2022	Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}}"		KP Sharma Oli
(Cabinet)	CPN (UML)	Bidya Devi Bhandari
Nepali Congress}}"		Sher Bahadur Deuba
(Cabinet)	Nepali Congress
2022	6th House of Representatives	9 January 2023	12 September 2025	Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)}}"		Pushpa Kamal Dahal
(Cabinet)	CPN (Maoist Centre)	Ram Chandra Poudel
Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist)}}"		KP Sharma Oli
(Cabinet)	CPN (UML)

Notes

References

(12 July 2016). "Nepal government in minority after Prachanda's party withdraws support".
[http://www.wipo.int/edocs/lexdocs/laws/en/np/np029en.pdf Article 86 (2)] Constitution of Nepal
"Around 61 percent cast votes in largely peaceful polls".
Kamat, Ram Kumar. (2022-12-28). "Prez summons new Parliament session on January 9".
Republica. "First HoR meeting after elections being held today".
(2025-09-12). "Nepal unrest: Sushila Karki to take oath as interim PM; parliament dissolved". The Times of India.
"Sushila Karki ultimately agrees to first become PM and then dissolve House".
"The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal, 1959".
"Nepal-Salient Features of the New Constitution".
"NEPAL: parliamentary elections Pratinidhi Sabha, 1991".
"parliament".
"News {{!}} International IDEA".
Khalid, Alia Chughtai,Saif. "Nepal elections explained".
"Constitution of Nepal".
"पूर्व पदाधिकारीहरू".
"Remembering KP Bhattarai".
"Dhungana makes a comeback to politics after 23 years".
Subedi, Ishwari. "Bill for privileges to ex-VVIPs getting fast-tracked".
Subedi, Ishwari. "Bill for privileges to ex-VVIPs getting fast-tracked".
"Nepal king dissolves parliament".
(9 March 2018). "Krishna Bahadur Mahara elected Nepal parliament's Speaker".
Sharma, Bhadra. (2019-10-01). "Parliament Speaker in Nepal Resigns After Rape Accusation". The New York Times.
"Sapkota becomes Speaker amid concerns from conflict victims and rights watchdogs".
"प्रतिनिधिसभाको सभामुखमा देवराज घिमिरे निर्वाचित".
Setopati, सेतोपाटी संवाददाता. "देवराज घिमिरे सभामुख निर्वाचित".
(31 May 1991). "Kingdom of Nepal: Parliamentary Elections, May 12, 1991".
"NEPAL Parliamentary Chamber: Pratinidhi Sabha ELECTIONS HELD IN 1994".
"NEPAL Parliamentary Chamber: Pratinidhi Sabha ELECTIONS HELD IN 1999".
"Despite being dissolved twice, HoR completes its 5-year term".

Wikipedia Source

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