After years of debate, Nepal is celebrating a new constitution. Out of the 598 members of the Constituent Assembly, 507 voted for the new constitution, 25 voted against, and 66 abstained in a vote on September 16, 2015. Some small parties of the Tharu and Madhesi ethnic communities organized protests against the Constitution, leading to widespread violence in southern Nepal. More than 40 people died in the violence, half of whom were members of Nepal’s Police and Armed Police Force.
The then President Ram Baran Yadav promulgated the new constitution on September 20, 2015 in a ceremony expected to be attended by members of parliament, Cabinet members, members of Constitutional bodies, high ranking officers of Nepal’s security forces, and members of the diplomatic community. Once the constitution is promulgated, Nepal will have completed a 65-year-old quest.
