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NEPAL
Sambidhan Sabha (Constituent Assembly)

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ELECTIONS IN 2008

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A historical Archive of past election results for this chamber can be found on a separate page

Parliament name (generic / translated) Sansad / Parliament Structure of parliament Unicameral BACKGROUND Dates of election / renewal (from/to) 10 April 2008 Purpose of elections Elections were held for all the directly elected seats in the Constituent Assembly. Elections to the 601-member Constituent Assembly had been due before mid-June 2007 but were postponed twice due mainly to disagreement between the main political forces over the electoral system and the future status of the King. The immediate abolition of the monarchy was the key demand of Nepalese Maoists who had led ten years of rebellions in which over 13 000 people died. The Constituent Assembly was established on 27 May 2008 with the task of adopting the country's new Constitution within two years. The country had last held parliamentary elections in May 1999. The centrist Nepali Congress Party (NC) of the then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala won 111 seats of the 205 seats in the House of Representatives the lower chamber of the bi-cameral Parliament. Its coalition partner the Nepali Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist UML) won 71 seats. After the elections Mr. Koirala's rival Mr. Krishna Prasad Bhattarai (NC) became Prime Minister. Mr. Bhattarai resigned in March 2000 and was succeeded by Mr. Koirala. Following the Royal Palace massacre in June 2001 (in which Prince Dipendra killed King Birendra the Queen and seven other royals before killing himself) Prince Regent Gyanendra ascended the throne. Mr. Koirala resigned as prime minister and Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba succeeded him. The latter subsequently formed a new faction the Nepali Congress (Democratic) (NCD). The House of Representatives was dissolved on 22 May 2002 in order to hold early parliamentary elections. Following Maoist rebels' threat to disrupt the elections Prime Minister Deuba asked the King to defer the polls by a year. The King then dismissed the government and subsequently postponed the elections indefinitely. On 1 February 2005 King Gyanendra assumed absolute direct power over the kingdom accusing the government of failing to make arrangements for parliamentary elections. Many members of the NC and the UML - including the UML leader Mr. Amrit Kumar Bohara and general secretary Mr. Madhav Kumar Nepal - were placed under house arrest. Parliament was unable to meet since the Constitution stipulated that the National Assembly (the upper chamber) could not be convened without the House of Representatives. On 24 April 2006 following a wave of street protests calling for elections as soon as possible King Gyanendra agreed to reinstate the House of Representatives. The reinstated House of Representatives held its first sitting on 28 April 2006. Mr. Koirala was elected Prime Minister. After numerous postponements an interim constitution was promulgated by the House of Representatives on 15 January 2007 following the peace agreement of 8 November 2006 between the major political parties and Maoist rebels. The House of Representatives then dissolved itself in favour of a unicameral 330-member interim legislature called the Legislative Parliament. This interim legislature comprised all members of the previous parliament (with the exception of three members who had been appointed by the King) 83 Maoists and representatives of the major political parties. These parties formed a ruling alliance that included the NC the UML the NCD and nine other small parties. In September 2007 the NCD and the NC merged under the leadership of Prime Minister Koirala. On 23 December 2007 the signature of a 23-point understanding paved the way for elections to the 601-member Constituent Assembly under a mixed electoral system. The agreement foresees that 335 members are elected through the proportional representation system while 240 others are chosen through the first-past-the-post system (F.P.T.P). The remaining 26 members are nominated by the Prime Minister from minority groups who do not win representation in the elections. On 29 December the interim Legislative Parliament adopted a third amendment to the interim constitution declaring Nepal a federal democratic republic. The decision to abolish the 240-year monarchy would come into force after endorsement at the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly. In all 3 937 candidates including 368 women were vying for the seats in the Constituent Assembly. Over 3 000 candidates were from 70 political parties while some 800 candidates stood as independents. The main protagonists all pledged to establish a strong and prosperous multi-party federal democratic republic. The media focused on whether the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) led by Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (better known as "Prachanda") would gain enough seats to stay in the democratic process. The Maoists campaigned on a less radical manifesto than in the past. For example they did not call for the nationalization of assets and pledged to invite foreign investment for economic development. Former prime minister Kamal Thapa of the National Democratic Party (Rastriya Prajatantra) campaigned in support of the monarchy. The National People's Power (Rastriya Janashakti) Party and four other royalist parties formed the United Inclusive Front (Samyukta Samabeshi Morcha see note) in February 2008 which pledged to work with everyone committed to democracy. During the election campaign period nearly 30 people were killed. Nevertheless voting took place in relative peace on election day. Over 63 per cent of the country's 17 million registered voters turned out for the elections. Over 800 international observers monitored the polls. The Election Observation Mission (EOM) of the European Union (EU) praised the level of turnout and concluded the elections were generally successful. The final results gave a victory to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) which won a total of 220 seats. The NC and CPN-UML took 110 and 103 seats respectively. In all 25 parties won representation in the Constituent Assembly. After the vote parties which won seats under the proportional representation system submitted their lists of names (including women Madhesi indigenous and marginalized people). In all 191 women were elected (29 under the majority system and 162 under the proportional representation system). On 27 May the Constituent Assembly held its first session. The following day it voted to abolish the monarchy declaring Nepal a Federal Democratic Republic. Disputes over the composition of the new government as well as the demand by the Madhesi People's Rights Forum Nepal (MPRF) for the 'autonomous Madhes province' delayed the election of a new Speaker of the Constituent Assembly. On 8 July Maoists the NC the UML and the MPRF agreed to add a provision to article 138 of the interim constitution referring to Nepal as a federal democratic country with various autonomous states. 593 candidates took part in the first ever presidential elections on 19 July. In the run-off elections held on 21 July Mr. Ram Baran Yadav General Secretary of the NC defeated the Maoist candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh. On 23 July Mr. Koirala officially tendered his resignation as Prime Minister. On 24 July Mr. Subas Nembang (UML) who had served as Speaker of the Legislative Parliament was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Constituent Assembly. On 15 August the Constituent Assembly elected Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Maoists) as Prime Minister. He was sworn in on 18 August. He subsequently formed a six-party coalition government comprising his Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) the UML the MPRF the Communist Party of Nepal (United) the Nepal Goodwill Party (Sadhvawana) and the People's Front Nepal (Janamorcha). His 23-member cabinet including four women was sworn in on 22 August. Note: The composing members of the United Inclusive Front and their number of seats: National People's Power (Rastriya Janashakti): 3 Rastriya Janamukti Party: 2 Dalit Janajati Party: 1 Nepal Rastriya Janabhawana Party: 0 Rastriya Jana Ekata Party: 0 STATISTICS Voter turnout Round no 1 10 April 2008 Number of registered electors Voters Blank or invalid ballot papers Valid votes 17'611'832 11'146'540 (63.29%) 407'462 10'739'078 Notes Statistics above refer to PR system. Statistics for Majority system Number of registered electors: 17 611 832 Voters: 10 866 131 (61.70%) Blank or invalid ballot papers: 560 011 Valid votes: 10 306 120 Distribution of seats Round no 1 Political Group Total Majority PR Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists) 220 120 100 Nepali Congress (NC) 110 37 73 Communist Party of Nepal (UML) 103 33 70 Madhesi People's Rights Forum Nepal 52 30 22 Tarai Madhes Loktantrik Party 20 9 11 Others 19 0 19 Nepal Goodwill Party (Sadhvawana) 9 4 5 Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist Leninist) 8 0 8 National Democratic Party (Rastriya Prajatantra RPP) 8 0 8 People's Front Nepal (Janamorcha) 7 2 5 Communist Party of Nepal (Samyukta) 5 0 5 National Democratic Party Nepal (Rastriya Prajatantra RPP-N) 4 0 4 Nepal Workers and Peasants Party 4 2 2 National People's Front (Rastriya Janamorcha) 4 1 3 Independents 2 2 0 Distribution of seats according to sex Men Women Percent of women 404 197 32.78% Distribution of seats according to age Distribution of seats according to profession Comments 191 women were directly elected while six others were nominated by the Prime Minister. Sources: - http://www.nepalelectionportal.org/EN/constituent-assembly/ - Constituent Assembly (04.06.2008 28.07.2008 24.09.2008) - Election Commission (06.07.2008) Note on the distribution of the seats: "Others" include the following parties. Rastriya Janshakti Party: 3 Rastriya Janamukti Party: 2 Communist Party of Nepal (United): 2 Nepal Sadhvawana Party (Anandidevi): 2 Nepali Janata Dal: 2 Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch: 2 Samajwadi Prajatantrik Janata Party: 1 Dalit Janajati Party: 1 Nepal Pariwar Dal: 1 Nepa: Rastriya Party: 1 Nepal Lokatantrik Samajbadi Dal: 1 Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekata Party:1 Note on the distribution of seats according to political parties for the 26 nominated members: Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists): 9 (3 women) Nepali Congress (NC): 5 (1 woman) Communist Party of Nepal (UML): 5 (2 women) Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF): 2 Terai-Madhes Loktantrik Party TMDP: 1 People's Front Nepal (PFN): 1 Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist Leninist): 1 Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP): 1 As at 3 October 2008 there was one vacant seat. Note on the vacant seats: As at 3 October 2008 there were seven vacant seats. - five members were elected from two constituencies in the general elections. Their seats will be filled by by-elections; - Mr. Ram Baran Yadav vacated his seat following his election as the President on 21 July; - one nominated member refused to take oath.

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