A Constituent Assembly is a body set up to represent the nation and make a new constitution (or revise an old constitution).

In Nepal's context, the Constituent Assembly is the body of representatives authorized by the Interim Constitution to draft a new Constitution for Nepal. This Constituent Assembly was directly elected by the people of Nepal in order to make it representative of Nepali society and ensure that all groups in Nepal can participate in this historical process.

The Constituent Assembly Election was originally expected to take place in June 2007, but as this date approached and the necessary election laws were not in place it was necessary to postpone the election until November 2007. The Constituent Assembly Election again had to be cancelled as November 2007 approached due to political deadlock over a range of issues. Some of the parties in Nepal refused to participate in an election until these issues were resolved and it was felt that an election held under these circumstances would not be legitimate.

With the conclusion of a political agreement in December 2007, Nepal was able to announce a new date for the Constituent Assembly Election. The election took place on 10 April 2008.


As legislated by the Interim Constitution for the creation of a 601 member Constituent Assembly, the assembly has 240 members elected through first past the post, 335 through the proportional system and 26 nominated by the government. For complete information on Constituent Assembly members by party, gender, caste and other details, please refer to our results section (provide link to results section).


A Constituent Assembly must discuss proposals for the new Constitution in great detail, work with lawyers specialised in constitution, as well as other people with relevant expertise, like political scientists and economists, and also with legal drafting experts (lawyers whose job it is to put ideas into legal language). Constituent assemblies have sometimes been very like a Parliament; in fact sometimes a nation's parliament has acted as its Constituent Assembly (like South Africa), or the Constituent Assembly has had the functions of Parliament also (like India).

Generally a Constituent Assembly should work a bit differently from Parliament. Parliament represents the people, has to watch over the work of government and hold the government accountable to the people; and is usually dominated by political parties. The Constituent Assembly exists only to make the constitution, and that task should involve the whole nation.

There should be an opportunity for individuals and civil society organizations to make submissions to the Constituent Assembly. In some countries a public body (perhaps called a Constitution Commission) has informed the public about the issues to be decided, collected public views, and put proposals to the Constituent Assembly based on the public views. If there is no other body to consult the people, the opportunity for the people to give their suggestions to the Constituent Assembly will be very important. The members of the Constituent Assembly will have a heavy responsibility to ensure that its decisions are made in the national interest, not controlled by government or parties or commercial or other interests.

If there is no other body to consult the people, the opportunity for the people to give their suggestions to the Constituent Assembly will be very important. The members of the Constituent Assembly will have a heavy responsibility to ensure that its decisions are made in the national interest, not controlled by government or parties or commercial or other interests.