Crystal Reference Encyclopedia from Crystal Reference Constituent Assembly (Italy) A special assembly endowed with supreme authority which was elected with universal suffrage in June 1946 to draw up the new Italian constitution. It comprised 556 deputies who in December 1947 voted to approve the text, which had been prepared by a 75-member commission. It was chaired first by Giuseppe Saragat, then by Umberto Terracini. It also operated as a short-term, limited-function parliament, and approved the peace treaty Italy concluded with the World War 2 victors in 1947. It was dissolved in January 1948. National Assembly Eritrea: National Assembly In accordance with transitional arrangements formulated in Decree No. 37 of May 1993, the National Assembly consists of the Central Committee of the People?s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ) and 60 other members: 30 from the Provincial Assemblies and an additional 30 members, including a minimum of 10 women, to be nominated by the PFDJ Central Committee. The legislative body ?outlines the internal and external policies of the government, regulates their implementation, approves the budget and elects a president for the country?. The National Assembly is to hold regular sessions every six months under the chairmanship of the President. In his role as Head of the Government and Commander-in-Chief of the Army, the President nominates individuals to head the various government departments. These nominations are ratified by the legislative body. In March 1994 the National Assembly voted to alter its composition: it would henceforth comprise the 75 members of the Central Committee of the PFDJ and 75 directly elected members. In May 1997, following the adoption of the Constitution, the Constituent Assembly empowered a Transitional National Assembly (comprising the 75 members of the PFDJ, 60 members of the former Constituent Assembly and 15 representatives of Eritreans residing abroad) to act as the legislature until elections were held for a new National Assembly.