KATHMANDU - Nepal will hold elections on Nov. 26 for both the national parliament and the assemblies of the seven provinces that were recently carved out by the new constitution, a government minister said Monday.



Information Minister Mohan Bahadur Basnet said the decision to hold elections for both national and provincial assemblies was made by the Cabinet on Monday.

Nepal



It will be the first time elections will be held for the seven provincial assemblies since they were formed by the new constitution, which was adopted in 2015.



The formation of the seven provinces was rejected by some ethnic groups in southern Nepal, leading to violence in which more than 50 people were killed. The main group to protest was the Madhesi ethnic group from southern Nepal, which wanted larger areas in the provinces that were assigned to them.



The protests, which lasted for months in 2015 and 2016, left Nepal with blocked border points with India, resulting in severe shortages of fuel, medicine and other supplies. The protests fizzled out, but the Madhesis are continuing to demand changes to the provincial borders.