Nepal’s parliament has unanimously elected a chairman of the constituent assembly that will draft a new constitution aimed at ending years of political uncertainty.
Subhash Chandra Nembwang, the only candidate put forward by the country’s political parties, is a member of the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninists (UML) - the second largest party in parliament.
Nembwang served for four years as chairman of the first constituent assembly which was dissolved in May 2012 after failing to write a constitution.
He will also act as parliamentary speaker, a role which he has held for three consecutive terms, making him the longest serving speaker in the country’s parliamentary history.
Speaking to reporters after being elected as constituent assembly chairman, Nembang said he would move ahead in uniting all the parties in the constituent assembly for drafting a new constitution within
a year.
His election is expected to speed up cabinet expansion which has been delayed as a
result of political infighting.
Nepal elected a prime minister last week after a three-month delay, replacing the technocratic government put in place in March 2013 to carry out a second constituent assembly election.
Nepal’s first constituent assembly was created in 2008, after a peace deal was signed with Maoist rebels, ending a
decade-long insurgency.
Nepal’s political woes have hampered efforts to fire up growth in a nation which borders both India and China and is one of the poorest in Asia.
Annual GDP growth slid to 4.6% last year while inflation is hovering around 10%, forcing hundreds of thousands of Nepalis to migrate overseas for jobs.
Analysts say all the main parties know they cannot afford to allow their disagreements over the terms of the constitution to go on much longer.
“The parties will have to work things out, they have no other option, no other way out,” Lok Raj Baral, executive chairman of Kathmandu’s Nepal Centre for Contemporary Studies, said.
