Nepal's new Constituent Assembly to meet on January 22

Nepal's newly elected Constituent Assembly will hold its first meeting on January 22 after a compromise was reached between the President and the interim executive head both of whom had claimed their right to call the session.
The Constituent Assembly, which was elected in November and will serve as a legislative body, is expected to deliver a new constitution.
Following a discussion with President Ram Baran Yadav, Chairman of the Interim Council of Ministers Khil Raj Regmi summoned the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly (CA) on January 22, Regmi's press advisor Bimal Gautam said in a statement.
There was confusion over who would call the first meeting of the assembly, which has now ended with Regmi taking the honours to call the maiden meet, he was quoted as saying by news portal Ekantipur.

Regmi's decision to call the first meeting followed his talks with the President last evening, when a compromise was reached between the Head of State and the executive head.
Earlier, both the President and the Chairman had claimed their right to call the meeting. The case even went to the Supreme Court.

Nepal has been facing a constitutional crisis since the 10-year civil war in the country ended in 2006. It deepened in 2012 when the first Constituent Assembly elected in 2008 was dissolved without promulgating the constitution.
The 30 political parties that won seats in the November 19 polls last year were expected to nominate lawmakers under a proportional representation (PR) system by December 10.

The composition of 601-member assembly was delayed after the Maoists alleged fraud in polls and threatened to boycott the assembly. After weeks of negotiations, they last month agreed to participate in it.
The Maoists, who ended their decade-long "People's War" with a peace deal in 2006 and had swept the first post-war elections, were pushed to the third position in the polls last year.
The Maoists won just 80 of the 575 seats in the November polls, well behind the Nepali Congress which won 196 and the CPN (UML) which got 175.
Under the PR system, 335 members of the assembly are chosen according to the proportion of votes secured by political parties in the elections. A total of 240 seats were elected under a direct voting system, while the remaining 26 members will be nominated by the government.

A new government is expected to be led by the Nepali Congress, which will nominate the 26 members.