Editing Kingdom of Nepal (section)

====King Mahendra's new constitution====
{{main|Panchayat (Nepal)}}
Declaring the contemporary parliament a failure, King Mahendra in 1960 dismissed the Koirala government, declared that a "party-less" [[Panchayat (Nepal)|Panchayat]] system would govern Nepal, and promulgated another new constitution on 16 December 1962.
 
Subsequently, the Prime Minister, members of parliament and hundreds of democratic activists were arrested. In fact, this trend of the arrest of political activists and democratic supporters continued for the entire 30-year period of the partyless Panchayat system under King Mahendra and then his son, [[Birendra of Nepal|King Birendra]].
 
The new constitution established a "partyless" system of panchayats (councils), which King Mahendra considered to be a democratic form of government, closer to Nepalese traditions. As a pyramidal structure, progressing from village assemblies to a [[Rastriya Panchayat]] (National Parliament), the panchayat system constitutionalised the absolute power of the monarchy and kept the King as head of state with sole authority over all governmental institutions, including the cabinet (council of ministers) and the parliament. One-state-one-language became the national policy, and all other languages suffered at the cost of the official language, [[Nepali language|Nepali]], which was the king's language.
 
King Mahendra was succeeded by his 27-year-old son, King Birendra, in 1972. Amid student demonstrations and anti-regime activities in 1979, King Birendra called for a [[1980 Nepalese governmental system referendum|national referendum]] to decide on the nature of Nepal's government: either the continuation of the panchayat system with democratic reforms or the establishment of a multiparty system. The referendum was held in May 1980, and the Panchayat system won a narrow victory. The king carried out the promised reforms, including a selection of the prime minister by the Rashtriya Panchayat.