Kathmandu, May 8

The Ministry of Home Affairs has issued a new order of precedence with amendment after some public office holders objected to its previous protocol list of hierarchy published in January.

According to a notice published in the Nepal Gazette, the new protocol list has placed president, vice president, prime minister and chief justice in the first, second, third and fourth ranking order, respectively.

Speaker of the House of Representatives and chairperson of the National Assembly have been ranked fifth. Earlier, chief justice, speaker of the HoR and chairperson of the National Assembly were ranked fourth.

Former president, deputy prime minister, former vice-president, former prime minister and former chairperson of Council of Ministers have been ranked sixth in the new order of precedence.

Governors of provinces have slipped one notch to rank seven from previous six. They will be ranked seventh in their concerned provinces and eighth outside their province. The new provision of protocol has also accorded a higher rank to former vice-presidents and prime ministers than that of governors of provinces.

As per the protocol list, ministers of the Government of Nepal, chief ministers of provinces, leaders of opposition parties of the HoR, personalities decorated with Nepal Ratna, former chief justice, chairperson of Constituent Assembly, deputy speaker of the HoR, deputy chairperson of the National Assembly, parliamentary deputy leader of ruling party, former speaker of the Parliament, former speaker of the HoR, former chairperson of the National Assembly and former deputy prime ministers have been ranked eighth.

State minister of the Government of Nepal, chief whip of ruling party in the HoR, chief whip of the main opposition party in the HoR, chairpersons of committees of the HoR, chairpersons of committees of the National Assembly, vice-chairperson of the National Planning Commission, Supreme Court justice, chiefs of constitutional bodies, members of Judicial Council and attorney general are ranked ninth.

Assistant minister of the Government of Nepal, members of the HoR, members of the National Assembly, former ministers, chief judges of High Court, ministers of provincial government, mayor of Kathmandu Metropolitan City, former parliamentarians, chief secretary and chief of army staff have been ranked 10th. Assistant ministers of provincial assemblies and mayors of metropolitan cities (excluding KMC) are 11th in the order of precedence.

As per the new hierarchy order, Nepali Army captain ranks higher than a section officer of Government of Nepal. Earlier, NA captain was placed below the section officer of civil service in protocol. The new provision has rankings of officials from 1-22. According to the MoHA, spouses of officer-bearers will enjoy the same rank in formal functions and ceremonies.