Nepal Set to Draft Constitution
This week, Nepal's Election Commission is set to make public the names of all candidates elected in last month's Constituent Assembly. Collecting more than 60,000 ballot boxes from across districts in remote terrain, and counting votes for 601 seats, took longer than expected. The Foundation provided support and technical assistance for monitoring during the groundbreaking election. A popular uprising in 2006 overthrew the government of King Gyanendra and cleared the way for a formal peace process involving Maoist rebels and mainstream political parties. Once results are announced, the Constituent Assembly's first meeting must take place within 21 days, when they will begin to draw up a new constitution for the country. Read Sagar Prasai's blog post on the Maoist victory, filed from Kathmandu.
