For the upcoming House of Representatives election scheduled for March 5, at least 50 per cent of women are mandatory under the proportional representation (PR) system.
Section 28 of the House of Representatives Member Election Act states that when political parties prepare the closed list of proportional candidates, at least 50 percent of the total candidates must be women.
Although the Constitution adopts the principle of proportional inclusion, there had been demands to amend the election law, arguing that it did not fully reflect the constitutional spirit. In the second week of November, a team including four members of the first Constituent Assembly (Renu Chand, Binda Pandey, Amrita Thapamagar, Sunil Babu Pant, among others) met officials of the Election Commission and demanded that at least 50 percent women be ensured in the PR list.
The election programme for the PR system will begin on December 7. According to the timeline, political parties wishing to participate under the PR system can submit their applications from December 7 to 9. The received applications will be reviewed and approved by December 12.
Section 28 of the House of Representatives Member Election Act contains provisions related to preparing the closed list of candidates. According to this, political parties wishing to participate under the PR system must prepare a closed list of candidates who will represent the party. Sub-section 3 of Section 28 states: “While preparing the closed list, the party must include at least 50 percent women among the total candidates.”
Parties are not allowed to include more candidates in the closed list than the total number of seats allocated under the PR system.
While preparing the closed list, parties must also consider geography and provincial balance, and ensure representation of Dalits, indigenous nationalities, Khas Arya, Madhesis, Tharus, and Muslims based on population, in line with the principle of inclusion. Parties must also ensure representation of backward regions and persons with disabilities.
The law also specifies that candidates included under each inclusion category must be listed separately in the prescribed format.
The prepared closed list must be submitted to the Election Commission. The submission dates have been fixed for December 28 and 29.
Once the closed list is submitted to the Commission, the candidates will be considered nominated.
When submitting the PR list, the party must also submit a letter of consent from each candidate stating that they agree to be a candidate on behalf of the party.
The Commission will verify whether the list received from the party has been prepared according to the Act. If it is found to be non-compliant, the Commission will notify the concerned party within seven days to correct it.
After being notified, the party must revise the list accordingly and submit the corrected list to the Commission within seven days.
If a candidate included in the closed list dies before the election completes, the party must nominate another candidate in the list. The replacement must be made under the same inclusion category as the deceased candidate.
Section 29 of the Act provides for an opportunity to file claims and objections against the closed list of candidates.
According to the law, the Commission must review and publish the closed list. When publishing, the Commission must also issue a notice stating that any voter may file a claim or objection within seven days if they believe any candidate in the list does not meet the qualifications required by the Constitution or the Act.
The published list may be disseminated through the media as necessary. If any voter believes that a candidate does not meet the qualifications set by the Constitution or the Act, they may file a claim or objection with evidence within the stated period.
If a claim or objection is filed, the Commission will conduct an investigation. If it finds any candidate unqualified under the Constitution or the Act, it will remove that candidate from the list.
According to the approved election programme, the preliminary PR candidate list will be published on January 18. After reviewing claims and complaints, the final closed list will be published on February 3.
According to existing law, the House of Representatives will have 275 members, selected through two systems: first-past-the-post (FPTP) and proportional representation (PR).
The law stipulates that 165 members will be elected under FPTP and 110 members will be elected through proportional representation. The nomination schedule for FPTP candidates is set for January 20.
