BHUTAN
A Royal Decree of 30 June 2007 declared that elections to the newlyestablished National Council, the Upper Chamber of the bicameral parliament, would be held in December. They were held on 31 December 2007 and 29 January 2008. The National Council is a non-partisan body comprising 20 directly-elected members and five royal nominees. The first nationwide elections to the new 47-member National Assembly took place on 2 March 2008. A draft constitution unveiled in 2004 will come into force once it is adopted by the National Assembly.

ECUADOR
On 29 November 2007, the 130-member Constituent Assembly held its first session and voted to “assume the legislative powers and duties” of the Congress until such time as a new constitution is adopted. It declared that the Congress would be in recess without pay until a new constitution is approved by a national referendum. The Congress rejected the move, claiming that the Constituent Assembly is not vested with the power to take such a decision.

On 30 November, President Correa tendered his resignation to the Constituent Assembly. On the same day, the Constituent Assembly voted to confirm Mr. Correa as the country's president. A draft constitution is expected to be ready by 24 May 2008, after which it will be submitted to a referendum. Parliamentary elections are expected to follow.

IRAQ
LOn 12 January 2008, the Council of Representatives of Iraq passed the Accountability and Justice Law, allowing low-ranking members of the dissolved Ba'ath Party to resume their posts in government and public institutions. It was approved by all attending 143 members of the 275-member parliament. An estimated 2.5 million Iraqis, mainly from the Sunni minority, had been Ba'ath party members before it was banned and dissolved in 2003. On 4 February, the Presidency Council comprising the President and two Vice-Presidents ratified the law, despite concerns that it would force many people who were hired after 2003 out of those posts. It added that it would propose amendments to the law, which would subsequently be submitted to the parliament. No timeline has been specified for completion of the process.

MYANMAR
On 9 February 2008, the military government announced that it would hold a constitutional referendum in May 2008 and a general election in 2010. It argued that the country should “change from a military government to a democratic civilian administration” based on the “multiparty democratic system” in accordance with the basic constitutional principles agreed by the National Convention in September 2007 (see issue No. 28, December 2007). Since December 2007, a 54-member State Constitution Drafting Commission has been working on a draft constitution. The Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA), a pro-government organ, which held 633 seats (58 per cent) in the National Convention, will be tasked with organizing the referendum and the elections.

NEPAL
On 23 December 2007, leaders of the seven main political parties signed a 23-point understanding, which was adopted by the Cabinet on the following day, paving the way for the elections to the 601-member Constituent Assembly (instead of the 425 originally foreseen; see issue No. 25,April 2007) under a mixed electoral system. A total of 335 members will be elected through the proportional system while 240 others will be chosen through the first-past-the-post system. The remaining 26 members will be nominated by the Prime Minister from minority groups who do not win representation in the elections. Elections to the Constituent Assembly, which have been postponed twice, are due to take place on 10 April 2008. On 29 December, the interim Legislative Parliament adopted a third amendment to the interim constitution, declaring Nepal a federal democratic republic. The decision will come into force once it is endorsed at the first sitting of the Constituent Assembly.

ROMANIA
A national referendum on electoral reform took place on 25 November, concurrently with elections for the European Parliament. The reform proposed that voters cast their ballots directly for candidates instead of party lists. President Basescu argued that the new system would strengthen the voters' relationship with their elected representatives. Although over 89 per cent of voters supported the new electoral system, the results of the referendum were invalidated due to the low turnout (26 per cent), well below the required 50 per cent.

VENEZUELA
In August 2007, President Hugo Chávez proposed 33 amendments to the 1999 Constitution. The changes included removing limits on the number of presidential terms, extending the presidential term from six to seven years and lowering the voting age from 18 to 16. He insisted that these changes were necessary to pursue his socialist revolution. On 2 November, the National Assembly added another 36 amendments to the 33 initial proposals, which were subsequently put to a constitutional referendum in a single package. On 2 December, the amendments were narrowly rejected, with 51 per cent “no” votes.