Nepal Constituent Assembly polls set for November 19

The much-awaited Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal will be held on November 19, the interim government announced today.
The government announced the election date after a marathon cabinet meeting this evening.
The government also endorsed the draft of the election ordinance, deciding to forward it to the President for approval, communication minister and government spokesperson Madhav Poudel said after the cabinet meeting, news portal Nepalnews.Com reported.
The government also formed a five-member Election Constituency Delimitation Commission headed by former Supreme Court justice Tahir Ali Ansari which has been given 30-day deadline to come up with recommendations.
Poudel said, 240 constituencies for first-past-the-post elections will remain intact.

The cabinet took the key election-related decisions after hours of debate.

The government had started homework after the high-level political committee of the four parties asked it to finalise the election ordinance after failing to resolve the differences.
The government also urged all the dissenting minor parties - including Mohan Baidhya's CPN-Maoist, Upendra Yadav's Madhesi Janadhikar Forum-Nepal, and Ashok Rai's Sanghiya Samajwadi Party - to come to the table for talks without any condition.
The fringe parties have been demanding replacement of the incumbent election government led by chief justice Khil Raj Regmi with a new government under political leadership.

Nepal had plunged into a political and constitutional crisis after the constituent assembly was dissolved without promulgating the constitution last year and the fresh elections to be held in November, 2012, did not take place, pushing the country into a political deadlock.
With the formation of the election government led by Regmi in March, the political parties had earlier tentatively agreed to conduct the elections in June or by December.