Nepal and Bhutan in 2008: A new beginning?

Asian Survey

Volumn 49, Issue 1, 2009, Pages 53-58

  Whelpton, John ^a  

^a CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG   (Hong Kong)

Author keywords

Constituent assembly; Democratization; Maoists; Nepali Congress; Tarai

Indexed keywords

CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM; DEMOCRATIZATION; ELECTION;

ASIA; BHUTAN; EURASIA; NEPAL; SOUTH ASIA;

EID: 62149103318     PISSN: 00044687     EISSN: 1533838X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1525/as.2009.49.1.53     Document Type: Article

References (6)

1. The CA was tasked to draw up a new constitution for Nepal and also act as an interim legislature for up to two years. Forming this body was a central demand of the Maoists and had also been eventually endorsed by the main parliamentary parties.
2. Parties fi elding candidates for more than 20% of the proportional representation seats were originally required to include specific percentages of the major ethnic groups in their slates to ensure that the CA was ethnically inclusive.
3. All major parties were guilty of this, but the Maoists were more thoroughgoing and efficient. One Maoist cadre boasted of voting 150 times. International Crisis Group, Nepal's Election: A Peaceful Revolution? (Asia Report 155) (Brussels: July 2008), p. 10.
4. The remaining 26 seats were to be filled by nominations, which were made by the political parties in June.
5. The prime minister can also be removed by simple majority but the president only by a two-thirds one.
6. This is a more optimistic estimate than the 3%-4% growth rate suggested by the World Bank in June 2008, , accessed October 31, 2008.