The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has secured a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives with 182 seats through direct and proportional representation. After this majority, the RSSS is engaged in the process of forming the government. Many are interested in the process by which Balendra Shah, who has been nominated as the Prime Minister, will now become the Prime Minister.

What is a parliamentary party? How is it formed? And what is the difference between a political party and a parliamentary party? We have tried to explain this in simple language through 5 questions and answers.

What is a party?

A political party is an organization of people with similar ideas, policies and programs. It is not necessary to win an election to become a member. Ordinary citizens can also be members of the party. There are various levels of structures within the party - district, province and central committee. According to the party's statute, office bearers including the chairman, president, general secretary and others are elected. These office bearers decide what the party will be like, what policies the party will adopt, what the party's strategy and political direction will be. A party is a political organization that continues before and after elections.

What is a parliamentary party?

A parliamentary party is a separate group within a party, but only consisting of MPs. Only elected MPs are members of it. In Nepal, according to the federal structure, there are three levels of parliamentary parties: the parliamentary party in the House of Representatives, the parliamentary party in the National Assembly, and the provincial parliamentary party in the provincial assembly.

For example, if a party wins 50 MPs in the House of Representatives, those 50 people together form their parliamentary party in the House of Representatives. On this basis, the RSVP now has a parliamentary party of 182 people. Therefore, a party and a parliamentary party are not the same. A party is a large political organization, but a parliamentary party is a group within its parliament.

How is a parliamentary party formed?

The Political Parties Act, 2073 BS explains the process of forming a parliamentary party. A party that wins at least two seats in the federal parliament or provincial assembly can form a parliamentary party. A parliamentary party must be formed within 30 days of the announcement of the election results and its leader must be selected.

How this leader is selected depends on the statute of each party's parliamentary party. In some parties, the leader is elected through elections, while in some parties, the leader is selected by consensus or consensus.

Once the leader of the parliamentary party is selected, the same leader selects other office bearers of the parliamentary party. This includes the deputy leader, chief whip, and whip. The role of these office bearers is very important in parliament.

The leader of the parliamentary party is the most influential person on behalf of the party in parliament. The constitution provides that if that party has a majority, that leader becomes the Prime Minister.

What are the powers of a parliamentary party?

The power of a parliamentary party is considered important in parliament. When a vote is held in Parliament on a matter, a party can issue a whip to its MPs. MPs are given a whip on various issues - whether to vote for confidence in the government or not, whether to pass a policy and program, whether to pass the annual budget, and other issues of national importance.

Such whips must be followed by the MPs of the party. If the MP does not accept the party's whip, action may be taken against him. If the same thing happens, he may even lose his MP post.

For example, in 2077 BS, a proposal to amend the constitution to include the Chuchhe map was presented in the House of Representatives. The Janata Samajwadi Party had issued a whip to vote in favor of the proposal. However, MP Sarita Giri voted against it. After that, the party took action and removed her from the post of MP. Therefore, the parliamentary party is considered the main structure for maintaining party discipline within the Parliament.

Does the party chief and the head of the government have different personalities?

With the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) gaining a majority, the practice of having different personalities as party chief and parliamentary party chief seems likely to begin. Ravi Lamichhane, party chairman and senior leader Balendra Shah, is likely to become the leader of the parliamentary party. Such a practice is not new in Nepali politics. However, such a structure has a history of sometimes causing serious political complications. What happens when the two structures within a party, i.e. the party chief and the head of parliamentary power, are different? To know this, we need to go back to the past.

After the 2048 BS election to the House of Representatives, the Nepali Congress won a majority. At that time, the acting chairman of the party was Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, but he lost the election. After that, Girija Prasad Koirala became the leader of the parliamentary party and became the Prime Minister. Bhattarai had influence in the party, while Koirala led the government. This conflict increased factionalism within the party.

What happened was that after King Birendra presented the government's policies and programs in parliament, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala proposed a vote of thanks to the king. However, Congress MPs were divided into pro and anti parties and it was not passed. After that, Prime Minister Koirala resigned and recommended the dissolution of the House of Representatives. After that, the country went to mid-term elections.

A similar incident repeated after 2056 BS. Congress again won a majority. Girija Prasad Koirala was the party president, while Krishna Prasad Bhattarai became the leader of the parliamentary party and became the Prime Minister. Dissatisfaction within the party began to grow within a short time after Bhattarai became the Prime Minister. Finally, Congress MPs themselves brought a no-confidence motion against Bhattarai within the party. And Bhattarai resigned after addressing the House of Representatives meeting.

Again, in 2058 BS, when Sher Bahadur Deuba was the Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala was the President of the Nepali Congress. Even then, the conflict between the party and the government intensified. Finally, in 2059 BS, after the decision to dissolve the House of Representatives, Koirala expelled Deuba from the party. After that, Deuba formed the Nepali Congress Democratic.

Communist parties also had the same problem as the Congress, where the leader of the parliament and the leader of the party were different people. For example, in 2067 BS, UML General Secretary Jhalanath Khanal became the Prime Minister with the support of the then Maoists. Although Khanal was the then head of the UML, his hold within the party was weak. When the Maoists put pressure on Khanal, who was in the government, and disputes began to increase within his own party, he was forced to step down within seven months.

The power struggle between KP Sharma Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal during the NCP is the most recent example. The UML-Maoist alliance won a majority in the 2074 House of Representatives elections. The two parties then merged to form the NCP in 2075.