The parties' candidacies are highly unbalanced in terms of age group, gender, and ethnic diversity. This clearly shows that the parties have not been able to realize the issue of giving political space to social diversity from within.
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It is expected that the demographic makeup and social diversity of Nepali society will be reflected in every political and social process and competition. The aim of adopting an inclusive system after the 2062/63 people's movement is also to ensure that all segments of society can take ownership of the state process.
The bodies mandated by the constitution and law have yielded results. The parliament itself is also becoming more inclusive than before. However, there are many references where parties are still not committed to the issue of inclusion. Although they have to submit a closed list considering inclusion for the proportional system of the House of Representatives, they have not given importance to inclusion in their candidacies for direct elections.
The candidacies of the parties are extremely unbalanced in terms of age group, gender, and ethnic diversity. This shows that the parties have not been able to realize the issue of giving political space to social diversity from within.
After the Gen-G movement of 23 and 24 Bhadra, the youth class has become decisive in the pace and process of politics. There is a situation where no debate can be complete without discussing what the youth want. As the voice that youth involvement in politics should increase has become stronger, a large group that was previously far from party politics has come to the center of politics. This has also had an impact on the candidacies given by the parties. It is also seen that they have given priority to young candidates. However, there is still a big difference in the balance of the population and candidates occupied by the young age group. In Nepal, 52 percent of voters are between the ages of 18 and 40. But only 31 percent of candidates are under 40. Such data shows that the parties have not distributed candidates in a balanced manner to the young and older age groups. In addition, it is also seen that no criteria have been set with a long-term plan to advance the new generation in politics. There is also a big gap in the issue of fielding young candidates by party. Only 4 percent of candidates under the age of 40 from the oldest party in the existing politics, the Congress. Among the communist parties, 7 percent of the old UML and 8 percent of the NCP candidates are under the age of 40. 40 percent of the candidates under the age of 40 in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sansthan (RSS), 38 percent in the Ujjaya Nepal Party and 32 percent in the Shram Sanskriti Party are known as the new party. It seems that the new parties have felt the psychology of society a little more in fielding candidates based on age group.
The parties have also not been able to be liberal in the issue of fielding women candidates. Women's candidacies in elections used to be low. After the adoption of the mixed system, it has been found that women are given priority only in the proportional representation and from there, measures have been taken to ensure one-third female representation. The low number of women's candidacies in this election indicates that there has been no improvement in the attitude of the parties. 3,406 people have filed candidacies in this election.
Out of them, only 388 are women. This is only about 11 percent. Out of that, only 213 are party candidates. Compared to party candidacies, women's candidacies are about 10 percent. Parties that field about 90 percent of their candidates are men do not have the moral strength to advocate for gender equality.
In the direct election, 157 women have filed independent candidacies. This is a remarkable aspect. Because it is meaningful from many angles for women to show courage to come out on their own for the agenda they carry. This data on independent candidacies will give courage to women leaders within the party to raise their claims and seek a share.
Kusunda, Raute, Hayu, Kisan, Meche, Banakariya, Surel, Raji, Lopcha, Kuswadiya (Patharkat, Silkat) have been included in the endangered communities, with a population of only 23,104. However, the previous big and prominent parties have not directly fielded candidates from endangered communities. Three people from endangered communities have become candidates from the Mongol National Organization and JSP Nepal.
Mongol National Organization has fielded Buddhalal Meche in Ilam-1 and San Bahadur Meche in Jhapa-5, and JSP Nepal has fielded Rama Meche in Jhapa-1. This clearly shows that the parties have not shown interest in giving priority to all communities in their candidate lists and thereby increasing their political and social participation and role.
When examining the candidacies registered by young candidates, women candidates and endangered castes, it is clear that the parties are not very sensitive to mainstreaming all parties. Their focus seems to be only on those with political heritage, who can afford election expenses and who are viral.
Such a trend makes the political process, competition and decisions made by state organs one-sided. A large section of the population is unable to keep up with the pace of the state. This time, the candidacies have already been completed. Therefore, there is no room for immediate improvement. But in the upcoming elections, the parties should express a commitment to adopt sensitivity and improve weaknesses.
