Nepalese Constituent Assembly

An election for the Nepalese Constituent Assembly was held in Nepal on 10 April 2008 after having been postponed from earlier dates of 20 June 2007 and 22 November 2007. This assembly will draft a new constitution. Hence, this will decide, amongst other things, on federalism. The number of eligible voters was around 17.5 million. The Constituent Assembly has a term of two years. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN (M)) placed first in the election with 220 out of 575 elected seats, and it became the largest party in the Constituent Assembly. After months of power-sharing discussions and deliberations, CPN (M) Chairman Prachanda was elected as Prime Minister in August 2008. Today the party stands as the largest party of Nepal having owned 239 seats in the Constituent Assembly. The new constitution cannot be drafted without the active participation of the UCPN(M). Thus, the party holds an absolute power in the way to draft a new constitution for the state