Does election in Nepal lack political inclusion?

The upcoming federal and provincial elections in Nepal offer a great chance to the Nepali citizens to elect competent representatives for the formation of governments. However, the right to politically represent themselves is still restricted for certain people.

With the establishment of a federal democratic republic in 2015, the legislation has determined quotas to ensure participation of women and ethnic minorities in the elections. The quota system made it possible for 112 women to be elected to the house of representatives in 2017 elections.

Although the constitutional provision guarantees 33 per cent representation of women in the Nepalese parliament, the empowerment of women is not executed from the grass root level.

 “There are no efforts made for genuine empowerment of women, however during election time, tokenism is practised to seek legal validity under the constitution,” adds Ghimire.

The lack of transparency in political financing limits women and marginalised communities to participate in elections. Although the election commission of Nepal has published campaign spending limits in the Nepal Gazette for the upcoming elections, it has often been seen through recent elections that the code of conduct is not followed.

While the code of conduct restricts candidates from giving incentives and cash to buy votes from the voters, there is lack of monitoring. The International Foundation of Electoral Systems (IFES) confirms the lack of regulating mechanisms noted by domestic observers of elections in Nepal. This shows transparency in campaign income and spending is not ensured. The lack of political financing policies that empower women candidates is demotivating women from competing in elections in Nepal according to IFES.

International assessment confirms that more campaign spending means more chances of winning the election in Nepal which limits political representation of people who are already marginalised. Candidates who have previously participated in Nepal’s federal elections have expressed their concerns about elections being conducted unjustly in Nepal, as the inability to raise money for campaigns silences many emerging voices of political leadership in Nepal.