Nepal 2015 Constitution (reviewed 2016) - Page 15 of 42

Table of Contents

PART 14. Provincial Legislature

175. Provincial Legislature

There shall be a unicameral legislature in a province which shall be called the Provincial Assembly.

176. Formation of the Provincial Assembly

Every Provincial Assembly shall consist of the following number of members: –
1. Members equal to double the number of members to be elected through the first-past-the-post (FPTP) election system to the House of Representatives from the concerned province,
2. The number of members to be elected through the Proportional Representation (PR) election system equal to the number equivalent to the remaining forty per cent when the number of members maintained pursuant to section (a) is regarded as sixty per cent.
Electoral constituencies shall be maintained pursuant to Federal law on the basis of geography and population for the election of the members pursuant to section (a) of Clause (1)
Sixty per cent of the members of the Provincial Assembly shall be elected through first-past-the-post election system and forty per cent shall be elected through proportional representation election system;
Election of members of the Provincial Assembly to be conducted pursuant to clause (3) shall be held on the basis of adult franchise through secret ballot as provided in the law.
Every Nepali citizen having domicile in a province and having attained the age of 18 years shall have the right to vote in any election constituency as provided for by law.
The representation of women, Dalit, indigenous, indigenous nationalities, Khas Arya, Madhesi, Muslim, backward region and minorities community on the basis of geography and population in the nominations filed by the political parties for the election to be held for the Provincial Assembly through the proportional representation (PR) election system shall be made on the basis of closed list in accordance with Federal law.Explanation: ‘Khas Arya’ shall mean Chettri, Brahman, Thakuri, Sanyasi (Dashanami) community.
While filing of candidacy by political party pursuant to clause (6), representation of the persons with disability shall also be made.
In case the seat of any member falls vacant with more than six months of the term of the Provincial Assembly remaining, the seat shall be filled by pursuing the same electoral system by which earlier member had been elected.
Notwithstanding anything contained elsewhere in this Article, at least one third of the total number of members to be elected from each political party to the Provincial Assembly shall have to be women. In case at least one third of the candidates elected from a political party pursuant to section (a) of clause (1) are not women, the political party shall have to make provision of electing at least one third women while electing members pursuant to section (b) of the same clause.
Any person eligible to vote for the member of Provincial Assembly and qualified as per Article 178 can stand as candidate from any election constituency of the province.Provided no one candidate shall stand in election from more than one constituency at a time.
Other provisions related to Provincial Assembly election shall be as prescribed in Federal law.

177. Term of Provincial Assembly

Unless dissolved earlier pursuant to this Constitution, the term of the Provincial Assembly shall be five years.
Provided that the term of the Provincial Assembly may be extended by a maximum of one year as per the Provincial Act, in the event of the declaration of a State of Emergency.
The term of Provincial Assembly extended according to clause (2) shall, ipso facto, come to an end after six months of the date of annulment of the declaration of the State of Emergency.

178. Qualification of members of Provincial Assembly

Any person who possess the following qualifications is eligible to become a member of the Provincial Assembly:
1. be a Nepali citizen,
2. be a voter of the concerned Province,
3. have attained twenty-five years,
4. not have been punished for any criminal offence involving moral turpitude,
5. not deemed ineligible by any law, and
6. Not be holding an office of profit.
Explanation: For the purpose of this section, ‘office of profit’ means any position, other than a political position, filled by election or nomination for which remuneration or economic benefit is paid out of a Government Fund.
If a person who is elected or nominated to the position of the member of Provincial Assembly already holds a political position through election, nomination, or appointment, the position held by such a person shall automatically become vacant from the day of his/her taking oath of office.

179. Oath of member of Provincial Assembly

The members of the Provincial Assembly shall take the oath, as provided for in the law, before taking part for the first time in a meeting of the Assembly or a meeting of any of its Committee.

180. Vacation of seat of Provincial Assembly member

The seat of a member of the Provincial Assembly shall deemed to be vacant in the following circumstances:

if she/he submits resignation to the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly,
if she/he does not, or has ceased to, possess the qualifications pursuant to Article 178,
if the term of the Provincial Assembly expires or is dissolved,
if she/he remains absent from ten consecutive meetings without notification to the Provincial Assembly,
if the party of which she/he was a member when elected provides notification in the manner set out by provincial law that she/he has left the party, or
if she/he dies.

181. Decision about disqualification of members of Provincial Assembly

If a question arises as to whether any member of the Provincial Assembly is disqualified or has ceased to posses any of the qualifications required by Article 178, the final decision shall be made by the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court.

182. Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the Provincial Assembly

The Provincial Assembly shall elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker from among its members within fifteen days of the first meeting of the Assembly.
While electing speaker and deputy speaker as per clause (1), either of Speaker or Deputy Speaker shall be woman and they shall belong to different parties.Provided that if not more than one party is represented in the Provincial Assembly or candidacy has not been registered even with the presence of more than one party, it shall not obstruct the Speaker and Deputy Speaker being from the same party.
If the office of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker falls vacant, the Provincial Assembly shall fill the vacancy through election from among its members.
In the absence of the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly, the Deputy Speaker shall chair the meeting of the Provincial Assembly.
If the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker has not taken place, or if both the positions become vacant, the member who is the senior most by age among the members present, shall preside over the meeting of the Provincial Assembly.
The office of the Speaker or Deputy Speaker of Provincial Assembly shall become vacant in the following circumstances:
1. if she/he ceases to be a member of the Provincial Assembly,
2. if she/he submits written resignation, or
3. if a resolution is adopted by a majority of two-thirds of the total number of members existing for the time being in the Provincial Assembly, to the effect that her/his conduct is not compatible with her/his position.
The Deputy Speaker shall preside over the meeting at which deliberations are to be held on a resolution that the conduct of the Speaker is not compatible with her/his position. The Speaker shall be entitled to take part and vote in the deliberations on such a resolution.

183. Summoning and prorogation of sessions of Provincial Assembly

The Provincial Head shall summon the session of the Provincial Assembly within twenty days after the final result of the election to the Provincial Assembly has been announced. And the subsequent sessions shall be called from time to time pursuant to the Constitution by the Provincial Head.Provided that the period between the prorogation of a session and the commencement of new session shall not be more than six months.
The Provincial Head may prorogue the session of the Provincial Assembly.
If, when the Provincial Assembly is not in session or has been adjourned, at least one-fourth of all members of the Provincial Assembly submit a request stating that it is desirable that a session or meeting of the Provincial Assembly be called, the Provincial Head shall call such a session or meeting by setting the date and time for this. The session of the Provincial Assembly shall commence or the meeting will be held in the date and time designated accordingly.

184. Address by the Provincial Head

The Provincial Head shall make a call to address the session of the Provincial Assembly and appeal to members for their presence in it.
The Provincial Head shall address the first session held following the elections to the Provincial Assembly and the meeting of the Provincial Assembly after commencement of the first session every year.

185. Quorum of Provincial Assembly

Except as otherwise provided for in this Constitution, no resolution shall be presented for decision in any meeting of the Provincial Assembly unless one-fourth of the total number of members are present.

186. Voting in Provincial Assembly

Any resolution submitted for decision in the Provincial Assembly shall be decided by a majority vote of members present and voting. The presiding member shall not have the right to vote.

Provided that in case of a tie the presiding member may exercise a casting vote.

187. Privileges of Provincial Assembly

There shall be full freedom of speech, pursuant to this Constitution, in the Provincial Assembly and no member shall be arrested or detained or prosecuted in any court for anything expressed or for any vote cast in that meeting.
The Provincial Assembly shall, pursuant to this Constitution, have full power to regulate its business, and it shall have the exclusive right to decide whether or not any proceeding of the Provincial Assembly is regular. No question shall be raised in any court in this regard.
No comment shall be made about the good faith of any proceedings of the Provincial Assembly, and no person shall make or disseminate anything about the comments or suggestion made by any member, deliberately misinterpreting or distorting their meaning.
The provision of Clause (1) and (3) shall also be applicable to any other person who is allowed to take part in the Provincial Assembly, other than the member of the Provincial Assembly.
No proceedings shall be initiated in any court against any person for publication made under authority given by the Provincial Assembly of any document, report, vote or proceeding.Explanation: For this Clause and for Clauses (1), (2), (3) and (4), the word ‘Provincial Assembly’ shall also mean the meeting of the Committee of the Provincial Assembly.
No member of the Provincial Assembly shall be arrested after a notice of the summoning of the session has been issued and until the session ends.Provided that nothing in this Clause shall be deemed to prevent the arrest of any member on a criminal charge under any law. If any member is so arrested, the authority making such arrest shall immediately inform the person chairing the Provincial Assembly.
Any breach of privilege shall be deemed to constitute contempt of the Provincial Assembly and the Provincial Assembly shall have the exclusive right to decide whether or not any breach of privilege of the Assembly has taken place.
If a person is in contempt of the Provincial Assembly, the person chairing the meeting may, in accordance with a decision by the meeting to that effect, reprimand or warn or impose a sentence of imprisonment not exceeding three months or impose a fine of up to ten thousand rupees on such a person, and such fine shall be recovered as government dues.Provided that if such a person submits an apology to the satisfaction of the Provincial Assembly, it may either pardon her/him or alter the sentence imposed on her/him.
Other matters relating to privileges of the Provincial Assembly shall be as determined by the Provincial law.

188. Provisions related to Vote of Confidence and no-confidence motion

If the Chief Minister considers it necessary or appropriate to make it clear that the Provincial Assembly has confidence in her/him, she/he may propose a vote of confidence to the Provincial Assembly any time.
If the party represented by the Chief Minister is divided or if a party joining the provincial government withdraws its support, the Chief Minister shall propose a vote of confidence to the Provincial Assembly within thirty days.
If the vote proposed in pursuant to Clause (1) and (2) is not passed by a majority of the total number of members existing in the time being, the Chief Minister shall cease to hold office.
At least one-fourth of the total number of members of the Provincial Assembly may propose a no-confidence motion, stating that the Provincial Assembly has no confidence in the Chief Minister.Provided that a no-confidence motion shall not be moved until the first two years of her/his appointment as the Chief Minister and not before another year once a no-confidence motion fails.
A no-confidence motion pursuant to Clause (4) shall also include the name of the proposed member for the post of Chief Minister.
If the no-confidence motion registered pursuant to Clause (4) is passed by a majority of the total number of members existing in the time being in the Provincial Assembly, the Chief Minister shall cease to hold office.
If the no-confidence motion pursuant to Clause (6) is passed and the post of Chief Minister falls vacant, the Provincial Head shall appoint as Chief Minister, pursuant to Article 168, the member of the Provincial Assembly proposed pursuant to Clause (5).

189. Minister, State Minister and Assistant Minister to attend the meeting of Provincial Assembly

The Minister, State Minister and Assistant shall be allowed to attend and take part in the business and deliberations of the Provincial Assembly and its Committee meetings.

Provided that the Minister, State Minister or Assistant Minister, who is not a member of the Provincial Assembly, shall not be allowed to vote in the Provincial Assembly meeting or its Committees and the Minister, State Minister or Assistant Minister, who is a member of the Provincial Assembly shall not be allowed to vote in the meeting of the Committee other than she/he is a member.

190. Unauthorized presence or voting in Provincial Assembly to be penalized

If any person who has not taken oath pursuant to Article 178 or does not hold necessary qualifications for membership of the Provincial Assembly attends the Provincial Assembly or its Committee meetings or votes in capacity of a member then the person presiding over the meeting shall order a fine of five thousand rupees against the person for every instance of such attendance or voting, and the penalty shall be recovered as government dues.

191. Restriction on discussion

No discussion shall be held in the Provincial Assembly which could have an adverse impact in the judicial execution of a matter under consideration in any court of Nepal, and about anything done by a Judge in the course of performance of his or her judicial duties.

192. Transaction of business in case of vacancy in membership

The proceedings of the Provincial Assembly shall be conducted notwithstanding any vacancies in its membership, and no proceedings shall become invalid even if it subsequently found that a person not entitled to take part in the proceedings participated.

193. Provincial Assembly to form committees

The Provincial Assembly shall constitute committees or special committees according to the need and as provided for in its rules to manage the transaction of business of the Provincial Assembly.

194. Procedure relating to the conduct of business of the Provincial Assembly

The Provincial Assembly shall frame rules to conduct its business, maintain order during its meetings and to regulate the constitution, functions and procedures of, and for any other matters pertaining to, committees of the Provincial Assembly.

195. Secretary and Secretariat of the Provincial Assembly

The Provincial Head shall, on the recommendation of the Speaker of the Province, appoint Secretary of the Provincial Assembly.
There shall be a Secretariat to carry out and manage the business of the Provincial Assembly. The establishment of such a Secretariat and other matters related thereto shall be as determined by Provincial law.
The qualification, functions, duties, powers and other terms and conditions of service of the Secretary of the Provincial Assembly shall be as provided for in the law.

196. Remuneration

The remunerations and benefits of the Speaker, Deputy Speaker and members of the Provincial Assembly shall be as provided for in the Provincial law. Until such a law is formulated, it shall be as determined by the provincial government.