Abolition of Monarchy in Nepal
After the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the Interim Constitution was promulgated in January 2007. The constitution provided for a Constituent Assembly with dual functions viz. as a constitution making body as well as legislative body / parliament. It was initially decided that the Interim Parliament will have 330 member and it will get dissolved with the first sitting of Constituent Assembly. The newly elected Constituent Assembly will have 425 members out of whom, 202 would be directly elected on the basis of First Past the Post System. 204 members will be nominated by political parties in proportion to the votes they score in elections and 16 members were to be nominated by Council of Ministers. Every Nepali, who has attained the age of 18 years was given right to vote in the Constituent Assembly. Constituent Assembly would be given two years time to draft the constitution.
Amendment of Interim Constitution 2007
The elections to Constituent Assembly were to be held in June 2007, but they were postponed twice. The major issue that created roadblock was the method of elections. The Maoists wanted the system of proportional elections while other political parties wanted first past the post system. The interim constitution was amended and it was finally decided that the Constituent Assembly will be of 601 members of which 240 members would be elected on the basis of FPTP system while 335 via the proportional representation system. Rest 26 Members will be nominated by the Prime Minister. It was also decided that whichever party secured maximum number of seats in the elections to Constituent Assembly, will form the new government till the new Constitution is not enforced. Decisions in the Constituent Assembly would be taken on the basis of consensus.
Elections to Constituent Assembly 2008
Elections were finally held in April 2008 only after the interim constitution was amended to adjust the demands of the Maoists. However, the elections were marred by clashes among various political parties viz. Nepali Congress (NC), Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist- UML) and CPN (Maoists).
In the elections, the CPN (Moist) emerged as largest party with 200 seats in 601 member constituent assembly. The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly was held on May 28, 2008 and monarchy in Nepal was abolished on the same day. With this, Nepal was turned into an “independent, secular, inclusive, federal, democratic republic with sovereignty and authority entrusted in Nepali people”.
The King was asked to leave the royal palace “Narayanhiti” within 15 days, which was to be turned into an historical museum.
