Constituent Assembly : : Nepal Election Portal

The Constituent Assembly is the body of representatives authorized by the Interim Constitution to draft a new Constitution for Nepal. This Constituent Assembly is to be directly elected by the people of Nepal in order to make it representative of Nepali society and ensure that all groups in Nepal can participate in this historical process.

The Interim Constitution legislates for the creation of a 601 member Constituent Assembly, with 575 of these members being directly elected (335 through Proportional Representation and 240 through First-Past-the-Post) and 26 being appointed by the Cabinet after the election takes place.

The Constituent Assembly Election was originally expected to take place in June 2007, but as this date approached and the necessary election laws were not in place it was necessary to postpone the election until November 2007. The Constituent Assembly Election again had to be cancelled as November 2007 approached due to political deadlock over a range of issues. Some of the parties in Nepal refused to participate in an election until these issues were resolved and it was felt that an election held under these circumstances would not be legitimate.

With the conclusion of a political agreement in December 2007, Nepal was able to announce a new date for the Constituent Assembly Election. The election is now scheduled to take place on 10 April 2008.

CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY CONVENES; DECLARATION OF THE REPUBLIC

The official and final list of members elected under the PR system was released on May 8, 2008; this meant the first meeting of the CA (which had to be held within 21 days of the publication of the final result) would be held before the end of May 2008. On May 12, 2008, it was announced that the first session of the CA would be held on May 28, 2008.The members of the CA were sworn in on May 27, 2008.

The first session of the Constituent Assembly on May 28, 2008 voted to declare Nepal a federal democratic republic, thereby abolishing the monarchy. 564 members of the Constituent Assembly voted for the motion, with 560 in favor and four opposed.

Of all the parties represented in the Constituent Assembly, only the Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP-Nepal) opposed the motion. Prime Minister Girja Prasad Koirala said that Nepal was entering a new era and that "the nation's dream has come true", while celebrations took place in Kathmandu. May 29 and May 30 were declared public holidays by the government. The Constituent Assembly also decided that Former King Gyanendra should leave the Narayanhity Palace within 15 days.

Earlier on May 28, 2008 the major parties agreed on the creation of the position of President, while the Prime Minister was to hold executive powers; however, they reached no agreement on exactly what powers the President should have or who should become President, and these deliberations led to a delay in the opening of the Constituent Assembly.

On 29 May, the royal standard was removed from Narayanhity Palace and replaced with the national flag. Gyanendra reportedly said on June 2, 2008 that he accepted the Constituent Assembly's decision.

After Gyanendra requested that the government make arrangements for his residence on June 1, the government decided on June 4 to allocate the Nagarjuna Palace, to Gyanendra Shah as his temporary residence.

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