More than half a century in the making: Nepal enshrines new constitution

By Sugam Pokharel and Salim Essaid, CNN

Updated 2350 GMT (0750 HKT) September 20, 2015

Nepalese activists of the Madhesi group chant slogans against the proposed constitution at near parliament in Kathmandu on September 19, 2015. The new constitution, endorsed in parliament, is the first to be drawn up by elected representatives of Nepal's people after centuries of autocratic rule. It is the final stage in a peace process that began when the Maoists laid down their arms in 2006 after a decade-long civil war with state forces and turned to politics, winning parliamentary elections two years later and abolishing the monarchy.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
Nepalese activists of the Madhesi group chant slogans against the proposed constitution at near parliament in Kathmandu on September 19, 2015. The new constitution, endorsed in parliament, is the first to be drawn up by elected representatives of Nepal's people after centuries of autocratic rule. It is the final stage in a peace process that began when the Maoists laid down their arms in 2006 after a decade-long civil war with state forces and turned to politics, winning parliamentary elections two years later and abolishing the monarchy.
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In this photograph taken on September 17, 2015, Nepalese activists hold lighted candles as they celebrate the country's new national constitution in Kathmandu.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
In this photograph taken on September 17, 2015, Nepalese activists hold lighted candles as they celebrate the country's new national constitution in Kathmandu.
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Nepalese youths hold candles and sing as they celebrate Nepal's new national constitution in Kathmandu on September 17, 2015, work on which began in 2008.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
Nepalese youths hold candles and sing as they celebrate Nepal's new national constitution in Kathmandu on September 17, 2015, work on which began in 2008.
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Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Unified Marxist Leninist chairman K P Oli, Nepalese Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known better as Prachanda and other lawmakers wave while Nepal's parliament passes a new national constitution in Kathmandu on September 16, 2015.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, Unified Marxist Leninist chairman K P Oli, Nepalese Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known better as Prachanda and other lawmakers wave while Nepal's parliament passes a new national constitution in Kathmandu on September 16, 2015.
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Nepalese lawmakers clap while Nepal's parliament passes a new national constitution in Kathmandu on September 16, 2015.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
Nepalese lawmakers clap while Nepal's parliament passes a new national constitution in Kathmandu on September 16, 2015.
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Nepalese lawmakers wave while Nepal's parliament passes a new national constitution in Kathmandu on September 16, 2015.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
Nepalese lawmakers wave while Nepal's parliament passes a new national constitution in Kathmandu on September 16, 2015.
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Nepalese law enforcement officers, who were injured in a deadly clash with protestors, receive treatment at Tikapur Hospital in Kailali District, some 420 kms west of capital Kathmandu on August 24, 2015.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
Nepalese law enforcement officers, who were injured in a deadly clash with protestors, receive treatment at Tikapur Hospital in Kailali District, some 420 kms west of capital Kathmandu on August 24, 2015.
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Nepalese activists from marginalised Tharu community take part in a torch rally against the division of Tharu-majority districts in the country's proposed federal structure in Kathmandu on August 11, 2015.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
Nepalese activists from marginalised Tharu community take part in a torch rally against the division of Tharu-majority districts in the country's proposed federal structure in Kathmandu on August 11, 2015.
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Nepalese activists from marginalized Tharu community take part in a torch rally against the division of Tharu-majority districts in the country's proposed federal structure in Kathmandu on August 11, 2015.
Photos: Nepal's long road to a new constitution
Nepalese activists from marginalized Tharu community take part in a torch rally against the division of Tharu-majority districts in the country's proposed federal structure in Kathmandu on August 11, 2015.
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Story highlights

  • Nepal tries to put decades of political strife behind it with the enshrinement of its new constitution
  • An overwhelming majority of its lawmaking body supports the document
  • Vocal minority groups say they were excluded from the process, and that the constitution will work against their interests

(CNN)Nepalis, shaken by two devastating earthquakes this year, and against a backdrop of more than half a century of political strife now have something major to cherish: the South Asian nation has put the world's newest constitution into effect.

As an editorial in one of the leading Nepali newspapers put it, "Nepalis are now truly sovereign citizens."

    What has changed?

      The Himalayan nation was never colonized and has always remained a sovereign state. So, what is new? "The previous constitutions were made at the ruler's disposal and overshadowed by the interests of the monarch