Nepal held historic elections for a Constituent Assembly on April 10, 2008, which now has the task to draft a new democratic and inclusive constitution. The elections were tightly monitored and seen as a great success, with a voter turnout of above 60 percent.

A large majority of the representatives in the Constituent Assembly are from various minority groups, which have been discriminated in Nepal on the basis of caste, language, region or religion, such as indigenous people, ethnic groups, Dalits, Terai people, Muslims, etc. Now, a major objective of the new constitution will be to include provisions which safeguard the rights and improve the prospects of these minorities. Sometimes it seems that the Constituent Assembly has overestimated the issue of minorities in its recommendations. However, this does not mean that such recommendations will actually guarantee the upliftment of the minorities. It is yet to be seen how the recommendations will really work in practice.

The interim constitution mandates that each and every article of the new constitution has to be passed by consensus in the Constituent Assembly. This seems almost impossible in the present situation, unless the political parties cool down themselves and come to a consensus.