Nepal's interim constitution, promulgated in 2007, provided for a constituent assembly. The April 2008 constituent assembly election was a landmark event in Nepal's transition from absolute monarchy to parliamentary democracy and resulted in an overwhelming victory for the UCPN (M). The interim constitution stipulated that the term of the constituent assembly would be two years, until May 2010. This coincided with the deadline for the drafting of a new, permanent constitution. However, the assembly missed this deadline and voted to give itself until May 2011 to complete the job. Technically, this contravened the interim constitution, which states that "the term of the constituent assembly may be extended for up to six months by a resolution of the constituent assembly, in the event that the task of drafting the constitution is not completed due to the proclamation of a state of emergency in the country". (In addition to the fact that the timeframe for an extension has been exceeded, another unconstitutional element of the current situation is the fact that it was not a state of emergency that was responsible for the legislature's failure to draft the constitution on time.) The legislative system is in transition, and the process has not proceeded according to the agreed guidelines. The government and the transitional legislature are thus currently making decisions on an ad hoc basis. The constituent assembly seems likely to miss even the extended deadline of May 2011 for drafting the new constitution. If and when the document is ever completed, it will presumably include guidelines for a permanent parliament and the timing of legislative elections.