The government has announced the Constituent Assembly elections on November 19. A marathon cabinet meeting Thursday evening fixed the election date.

The government also endorsed the draft of the election ordinance, deciding to forward it to the President for approval, communication minister and government spokesperson Madhav Poudel told said after the cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, the government formed a five-member Election Constituency Delimitation Commission headed by former Supreme Court justice Tahir Ali Ansari. Geologist Netra Dhital, sociologist Dambar Chemjong, public administration expert Madhu Nidhi Tiwari and secretary of the Office of the Prime Minister Raju Man Singh Malla are members of the commission, which is given 30-day deadline to come up with a recommendation.

According to minister Poudel, 240 constituencies for first-past-the-post elections will remain intact.

The cabinet took key election-related decisions after hours of debate. The government had started homework after the high-level political committee of the four parties asked it to finalise the election ordinance after failing to resolve the differences.