JUL 24 -
With the second Constituent Assembly (CA) elections scheduled for November 19, issues related to the representation of the women are still outstanding. In the last CA, women comprised 33 percent of the legislature-parliament, the highest ever representation in Nepali, and any South Asian Parliament. It was even higher than the 2013 world average of 20.9 percent women parliamentarians, according to the Inter-Parliamentary Union. The last CA comprised of 197 women—30 were directly elected, 161 were appointed through proportional representation and the Cabinet nominated six from 20 political parties. While the current CA election ordinance prescribes women’s candidacy at 33 percent, it does not guarantee 33 percent representation in results. Furthermore, the 33 percent criterion is only applicable to parties whose candidacy is 30 percent or more of the total candidates fielded. As 139 parties are registered for elections, many will meet the 30 percent criteria. Clearly, women stand to lose their presence in politics.
The dissolved CA, among other things, was widely lauded for its efforts to become more inclusive by ensuring the presence of women, Madhesis, Dalits, Janajatis and people from marginalised regions through the quota system. The inclusion of people from different castes, class, genders, religions and professions was an achievement in itself. The dissolution of the CA was a big loss to female legislators who had formed a ‘women’s caucus’ tasked with writing laws for a gender equal society. Had the constitution been written then, it would have recognised the economic value of domestic chores. A special constitutional act was also being planned to calculate the contribution of household work to the gross national product. Women lawmakers showed a keen interest and understanding of issues important to 51.5 percent of the country’s population. As the 2011 census shows a skewed sex ratio of 94.2—the presence of 94 males to 100 females—the upcoming election needs to continue to recognise women not only as voters but also as candidates, observers and election administrators. The role of women as decision makers in politics is crucial to encouraging their participation in all other sectors.
One option could be changing the ratio of first-past-the-post system to proportional representation back to 42:58 from the existing 50:50. This would ensure the participation of women and other marginalised groups in the CA, even if they are not directly elected. Likewise, a provision, which only mandates political parties contesting elections from all 240 constituencies to meet the 33 percent female representation criteria for FPTP, needs to be amended so that all parties field women candidates. Inclusion should not be an issue for larger parties alone. The electoral ordinance should also be amended to ensure 33 percent representation of women in results, as opposed to only candidacy.