Nepal Voters Right forum organized an interaction
on the Integrated election bill with key leaders from
Political parties and their sisters’ wings in the year 2024. The goal was
to engage political parties in discussions with more focus on the issue of
women, Dalit and other marginalized group in order to identifying challenges and
to develop a roadmap for collective advocacy towards reform with an aim to make
the political process more inclusive. Moreover, the event sought to gather
support from political parties for updating and amending the draft from the perspective
of marginalized groups. There were
altogether 55 participants, (39 male, 16 female) including Political leaders, CSOs and journalist.
The event was attended by:
Prakash Saran Mahat,
Spokesperson of Nepali Congress
Bishal Bhattarai, Politburo member of CPN-UML
Anjana Bisankhe, Communist Party of Nepal, Maoist Centre
Santosh Pariyar, Chief Whip of National Independent Party
Jayanti Rai, Vice Chairmen of Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist)
Kunti Kumari Shahi, General Secretary of National Democratic Party
Niraj Acharya, CPN, UML
Parshuram Ramtel, CPN (Maoist Center)
Lok Bahadur Biswakarma, Chairperson of Nepali congress Dalit sister wing
The event served as a platform to sensitize all the political leaders on electoral reform and they showed a strong commitment to address the representation of marginalized communities, particularly women, Dalits and other excluded groups. There was a support from majority for updating and amending the bill to ensure inclusivity in the electoral process and emphasized the need for collaborative efforts from all parties. Together with it, they suggested revising the slogan created by NVRF to make it more specific, as the current slogan has been causing confusion to the audience. Beyond that, they called for to enhanced voter education and reforms in the electoral system to strengthen Nepal's democracy.