Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the National
Council (60 seats; 35 appointed by the House of Representatives, 10
by the king, and 15 elected by an electoral college; one-third of
the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the
House of Representatives (205 seats; members elected by popular vote
to serve five-year terms)

elections: House of Representatives - last held 3 and 17 May 1999
(next to be held NA May 2004)

election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by
party - NC 37.3%, CPN/UML 31.6%, NDP 10.4%, NSP 3.2%, Rastriya Jana
Morcha 1.4%, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 0.8%, NWPP 0.5%, others 14.8%;
seats by party - NC 113, CPN/UML 69, NDP 11, NSP 5, Rastriya Jana
Morcha 5, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 1, NWPP 1

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or Sarbochha Adalat (chief justice is
appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional
Council; the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the
recommendation of the Judicial Council)

Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Nepal/United
Marxist-Leninist or CPN/UML [Madhav Kumar NEPAL, general secretary];
National Democratic Party or NDP (also called Rastriya Prajantra
Party or RPP) [Surya Bahadur THAPA, chairman]; Nepal Sadbhavana
(Goodwill) Party or NSP [Gajendra Narayan SINGH, president]; Nepal
Workers and Peasants Party or NWPP [Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE, party
chair]; Nepali Congress or NC [Girija Prasad KOIRALA, party
president, Sushil KOIRALA, general secretary]; Rastriya Jana Morcha
[Chitra Bahadur K. C., chairman]; Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal [Lila
Mani POKHAREL, general secretary]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Maoist guerrilla-based
insurgency; numerous small, left-leaning student groups in the
capital; several small, radical Nepalese antimonarchist groups

International organization participation: AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO,
G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO,
Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent), ITU, MONUC, NAM, OPCW,
SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH,
UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
(observer)

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Damodar Prasad GAUTAM

chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone: [1] (202) 667-4550

FAX: [1] (202) 667-5534

consulate(s) general: New York

Diplomatic representation from the