Women lawmakers' protest

Women lawmakers from almost all the political parties took to the parliament’s floor on Sunday to draw attention of the government and political parties about 33 percent representation of the women in state organs, including in the cabinet. In a show of rare unity among the lawmakers across party line, the women lawmakers obstructed the House proceedings for about 15 minutes and went back to their seats after the speaker assured them that the attention of the House and the government was adequately drawn on the issues.



The question is: Has the House dominated by the male lawmakers and government with even more skewed representation of women in the cabinet heard this legitimate demand? There are reasons to doubt.



It’s unfortunate that women lawmakers still need to obstruct House to demand implementation of a resolution passed by the reinstated parliament after Jaanandolan II. Four years since the passing of the historic resolution, women representation remains much less than the desired one-third in almost all the state organs. Agreed that it takes time to increase women’s representation in state’s structures and organs but what about their representation in the decision making bodies, such as the central committees, of the political parties? Things aren’t much inspiring.



There are only 13 women in a 150-member central committee of the largest party, UCPN (M). Likewise, in the 80-member Central Working Committee of the second-largest party, Nepali Congress, 17 are women and there are just 21 women in CPN-UML’s 115-member central committee. What does this say? Not just that the women are underrepresented in all key positions in the society but the parties also haven’t made enough effort to increase that representation.



It’s in this context that the protest by the women lawmakers should be viewed and understood. The reinstated parliament passed the resolution to raise women representation to at least 33 percent in acknowledgement of the huge women participation in Janaandolan II. Hundreds and thousands of women took to the streets in various districts demanding an end to Gaynendra’s rule and the success of Janaandolan II was all but sealed when tens and thousands of women participated in the only-women rallies organized across the country. Since the success of Janaandolan II, much has changed in the lives of Nepali women but it’s also true that much remains the same for millions of them, especially in the rural areas.



Giving women more representation in the state organs and structures raises their public profile and it also begins to change the attitude of their male counterparts, which is the key to changing the gender dynamics in our society. The government may not be able to do much in the short run but it can and should immediately raise representation of women in the cabinet, the chief demand of the women lawmakers. That will be a good beginning.

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