by Kalpit Parajuli

Parliament adopts bill ending monarchy, turning the country into a republic with an electoral system based on proportional representation. Maoists drop demand for the immediate abolition of the monarchy, raising hope for an end of the current political crisis.

Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Nepal’s parliament approved a bill that abolishes the monarchy and turns the country into a republic. The bill, which was approved on Sunday by a simple majority of the 326-member assembly during a special session called by the Maoists, also calls for a fully proportional electoral system. The bill also urges the government to set the date for the elections to the Constituent Assembly and for the official proclamation of the republic.

The demand for the move towards a republic made by the Nepal Communist Party (UML) was backed by Maoist rebels who had initially called for an immediate shift to a republic before the vote to a constituent assembly. In exchange the UML agreed to support the Maoist proposal asking the government to change the present electoral system into a fully proportional one.

Now everyone is hopeful that the consensus achieved in parliament may end the ongoing political crisis set off in September by the Maoists when their ministers in the current government resigned forcing a delay in the constituent assembly elections, a key point in the peace agreement signed in 2006 that ended ten years of armed conflict.

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