Women's representation in the Parliament of Nepal has increased in the Constituent Assembly, which may affect the drafting of the future constitution of Nepal.
Brief political history
The autocratic Rana regime lasted for about 104 years (1846–1951) in Nepal followed by a brief 18 months of parliamentary democracy in 1959–1960. However, late King Mahendra dissolved the parliament and took all the state power by himself and introduced a party-less Panchayat System, which lasted 30 years. In 1990, a pro-democracy movement forced late King Birendra to dissolve the one party system, lift the ban on political parties, and return the sovereignty to the people. Nepal once again adopted a multi-party parliamentary system under the Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal in 1990. But once again, parliament was dissolved by the then King Gyanendra on May 22, 2002 and introduced direct rule under his chairmanship in 2005. A successful second peoples' movement in 2006 followed by Constituent Assembly (CA) elections of 2008 finally declared Nepal as a Federal Democratic Republic and ended centuries old monarchy on May 28, 2008. Nepal held four general parliamentary elections in 1959, 1991, 1994 and 1999 and Constituent Assembly (CA) elections in 2008.
Women's participation in politics
Traditionally, Nepali women had limited role in political leadership. However, time and again they became active and have significantly contributed in bringing political changes in Nepal. Women's participation in Nepali politics surfaced in the revolt against the oligarchy Rana regime in 1951. For protesting against the undemocratic royal proclamation of 1960, a group of women organizations openly waved black flags in a public procession and were imprisoned. Women's active participation in politics was noted later in the 1990 People's Movement where women from various regions and ideologies significantly contributed in the success for abolishing the one party system and establishing the multiparty democratic system in the country. Similarly, hundreds of thousands of women collectively participated in 2nd people movement in 2006 resulting in the demolition of monarchy and declaration of Nepal as a Federal Democratic Republic.
Women representation in Parliament under the four parliamentary elections
In the first Parliamentary elections of 1959, the entire 6 women candidate lost the election. As a result of the compulsory provision of the 1990 Constitution that requires at least five percent women's candidature in the election for House of Representatives, the numbers of women candidates in the last three parliamentary elections held in 1991, 1994 and 1999 were gradually increased with a number of 81 (party candidate 73 and 8 independent), 86 (party candidate 74 and 12 independent) and 143 (party candidate 117 and 26 independent) respectively. But out of the total 205 seats only 6 (2.9%,), 7 (3.4%), and 12 (5.8%) women were elected (only the party candidates) respectively in 1991, 1994 and 1999.
Constituent Assembly elections, 2008 and Women's Representations
Nepali women's representation in the legislative body (Legislature-Parliament), however, was dramatically increased to 32.8% through the Constituent Assembly (CA) Election held in 2008. In the election, 191 women leaders (33.2%) were elected out of 575 seats, and Cabinet nominated 6 women out of 26 seats, resulting to 197 women members (32.8%) in the Legislative parliament. As a result, Nepal stands on the 14th position globally to send the women leaders in the legislature parliament. The reason behind the drastic change in the women's representation is due to the reservation of seats provided through the Interim Constitution of Nepal, 2007.
Political environment
Even though the voices for substantive representation of women in the decision-making bodies were raised time and again by the women's rights groups as well as by the politically active women, the demand was echoed after the successful second People's Movement, which resulted in the reinstatement of the dissolved Parliament by the then King Gyanendra through a national proclamation on April 24, 2006. The reinstated parliament in May 2006 declared to end all forms of discrimination and ensure the inclusive democracy in future. A peace agreement was signed on November 21, 2006, between the government and the Maoist which further led the foundation for inclusive democracy and increased participation of women in National Politics. Following to this, a twelve-point agreement between the 7 political parties' alliance and the Maoists on November 22, 2005 is also considered as the beginning of political and social transformation in Nepal.