Nepal's New Parliament to Meet January 22

Nepal's interim government has called on the newly elected Constituent Assembly to hold its first meeting on January 22.

The assembly will attempt to write a new constitution and function as the parliament.

Nepal held an election in 2008 after the monarchy was abolished. However, hopes of turning the country into a full-fledged democracy have been paralyzed for five years because of political wrangling, as well as ethnic, socio-economic and regional differences.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP.