Nepal 2006 Constitution (reviewed 2012)

Part 18. POLITICAL PARTIES

141. Prohibition on imposition of restrictions on political parties

1. Persons who are committed to common political ideology, philosophy and program shall, subject to laws made under proviso (3) to Clause (3) of Article 12, be entitled to form and operate political parties of their choice and to generate, or cause to be generated, publicity in order to secure support and cooperation from the general public for their ideology, philosophy and program or to carry out any other activity for this purpose. Any law, arrangement or decision which restricts any of such activities shall be deemed to be inconsistent with this Constitution and shall, ipso facto, be void.
2. Any law, arrangement or decision which allows for participation or involvement of only a single political party or persons having similar political ideology, philosophy or program in the elections or in the political system of, or in the conduct of governance of the country shall be inconsistent with this Constitution and shall, ipso facto, be void.
3. No party which has objectives prejudicial to the basic spirit and essence of the Preamble of this Constitution shall be deemed to be qualified for registration as a party.

142. Registration required for securing recognition for the purpose of contesting elections as political party

1. Every political party wishing to secure recognition from the Election Commission for the purposes of elections shall be required to, register it with the Election Commission in fulfillment of the procedures as determined by the Election Commission. The name of any political party failing to have such registration shall be removed from the list of the Election Commission.
2. A petition to be made for registration pursuant to Clause (1) shall be accompanied by the constitution, manifesto and Rules of the political party proposed to be registered, and contain, inter alia, the following details:
   1. Name of the political party and address its central office;
   2. The names and addresses of the members and other office bearers of the executive committee or of similar other committee of the political party;
   3. Details of funds, income source of the political party and resources for bringing about such funds.
3. Every political party shall be required to fulfil the following conditions in order to qualify for registration pursuant to Clause (1):
   1. The constitution and rules of the political must be democratic;
   2. The constitution or rules of the political party must provide for election of office bearers of the party at all levels at least once in every five years;
   3. There must be an inclusive provision that the executive committees at various levels the executive committee at various levels include the members from women, Dalit and the excluded and oppressed sectors; and
   4. The constitution of the party must have an effective provision to maintain discipline of its members.
4. The Election Commission shall not register any political party or organization which discriminates against any citizen of Nepal in becoming its member on the basis merely of religion, caste, tribe, language or sex or the name, objective, insignia or flag of which is of such a nature as to jeopardize the religious and communal unity of the country or to fragment the country or the Constitution or Rules of such party or organization have the objective of protecting and promoting party-less or single party system.
5. A petition with the support and signature of at least ten thousand voters shall be required for the purpose of registration of a party for election.Provided that, this provision shall not apply to the parties represented in the Interim Legislature-Parliament.
6. Provisions on the establishment, registration, recognition of political parties and other matters except those mentioned in this Part shall be as provided in law.