Republic of Nepal

Nepal became a republic in May 2008, it had been ruled by monarchs or a ruling family for most of its modern history in relative isolation.

AT-A-GLANCE

Politics: Historic elections in April 2008 led to abolition of centuries-old monarchy
Economy: Civil strife wrecked the economy and Nepal is dependent on aid; tourism is a key foreign exchange earner


Timeline
A brief experiment with multi-party politics in 1959 ended with King Mahendra suspending parliament and taking sole charge in 1962.

Democratic politics was introduced in 1991 after popular protests, but was marked by frequent changes of government. The last king of Nepal, Gyanendra, twice assumed executive powers - in 2002 and 2005.

Maoist rebels waged a decade-long campaign against the monarchy, leaving more than 12,000 people dead and 100,000 people displaced according to UN figures.

When King Gyanendra's direct rule ended under public pressure in April 2006, the rebels entered talks with the parliamentary government on how to end the civil war.

A peace deal was agreed in November, although the Maoists continued to press for abolition of the monarchy.

Parliament agreed to the condition in December 2007, and the Maoists emerged as the largest parliamentary party after elections in April 2008.

The monarchy was abolished a month later, and a Maoist-dominated government took office in August.

The Maoist-led coalition government disintegrated in May 2009, and was succeeded by another coalition excluding the Maoists.

People's movement in Nepal

The constitutional evolutionary phases were continuously witnessed throughout the development process in Nepal. The post second Jan-andolan,2062 (2005) period has provided ample opportunities for stabilizing and institutionalizing the institutional democracy, peace and constitutional reforms. The formation of Constituent Assembly has raised the common man’s hope of period getting a constitutional solution forever. The Nepalese masses have not forgotten that, the Constituent assembly was a mere declaration by the King Mahendra in 2007(1950) and the successive constitutions were formed by the related Constitution drafting committees. At that time, the constitutional experts were hand picked, the rigidity, abstract law, limited constitutional resources, least judicial developments and impact of ruling monarch were major hurdles in the way of making appropriate Nepali constitution. Along with this, soaring socio-economic problems has obstructed a lot for experimenting with past six constitutions having colors, flavor and impact of then existing time.