1st Nepalese Constituent Assembly

First Constituent Assembly of Nepal
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Overview
Legislative bodyConstituent Assembly of Nepal
Meeting placeInternational Convention Centre
Term2008 – 2013
Election2008 Nepalese Constituent Assembly election
GovernmentFirst Dahal cabinet
Madhav Nepal cabinet
Khanal cabinet
Bhattarai cabinet
Members601
Voters line up during first Constituent Election 2008

The first Nepalese Constituent Assembly was a unicameral body of 601 members that served from May 28, 2008, to May 28, 2012. It was formed as a result of the first Constituent Assembly election held on April 10, 2008.[1] The Constituent Assembly (CA) was tasked with writing a new constitution,[2] and acting as the interim legislature for a term of two years.[3]

240 members were elected in single-seat constituencies, 335 were elected through proportional representation,[4] and the remaining 26 seats were reserved for nominated members.[5] The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [CPN (M)]—now re-formed as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)—was the largest party in the Constituent Assembly, having won half of the constituency seats and about 30% of proportional representation seats.[6]

The CA declared a republic at its first meeting on May 28, 2008, abolishing the monarchy.[7] In late June 2008, the parties agreed to divide the 26 nominated seats in the CA between nine parties: the CPN (M) was to receive nine of these seats, while the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) [CPN (UML)] (which respectively placed second and third in the election) would each receive five, the Madhesi Janadhikar Forum would receive two, and the Sadbhavana Party, the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party, Janamorcha Nepal, and the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) [CPN(M-L)] would each receive one nominated seat.[5][8]

The CA was unable to draft a new constitution, and was dissolved on May 28, 2012, after its original and extended total tenure of four years.[9] The next Nepalese Constituent Assembly elections initially slated for November 22, 2012[10] were held a year later on November 19, 2013, after being postponed several times.[11] The Constitution of Nepal was successfully drafted by the 2nd Constituent Assembly and ultimately came into effect on 20 September 2015.

  1. ^ Sengupta, Somini. Polls Open in Nepal the Day After Violence Killed 8. The New York Times. 2008-04-10.
  2. ^ Nepal votes in landmark elections Archived 2018-10-02 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News. 2008-04-10.
  3. ^ "Interim Constitution of Nepal" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2009-07-15. Retrieved 2008-09-29.
  4. ^ Vijay, Tarun. Rebirth of Nepal Archived 2018-02-05 at the Wayback Machine. The Times of India. 2008-04-10.
  5. ^ a b "Cabinet approves constitutional amendment draft"[permanent dead link‍], Nepalnews, June 25, 2008.
  6. ^ Mishra, Rabindra. Nepal: The rocky red road Archived 2008-08-16 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News. 2008-04-22.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference Fed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "Parties recommend names for 26 CA members"[permanent dead link‍], Nepalnews, June 27, 2008.
  9. ^ "CA dissolved; PM proposes fresh election for Nov 22". Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2018-12-23.
  10. ^ "Nepal's CA fails to write Constitution". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2012-06-30. Retrieved 2012-09-06.
  11. ^ "Nepal voting ends for new Constituent Assembly". BBC News. 19 November 2013. Archived from the original on 11 March 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2014.